


The Return

by AudriG1126



Category: Code Lyoko, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sokovia Accords, Angst, Aquaphobia, Bullying, Child Abuse, Depression, Dissociation, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudriG1126/pseuds/AudriG1126
Summary: Peter Parker joined the Lyoko Warriors five years ago. Three years ago the gang defeated XANA and shut down the supercomputer. A year ago Peter Parker met the Avengers and fought alongside them as Spider-Man against various foes. However, Peter never mentioned Lyoko and the various mysteries surrounding it. So what happens when old enemies come back calling the Warriors away, leaving the Avengers with more questions than answers? To make it worse the Warriors seemed to have encountered new enemies. Will the Warriors be able to defeat them or will they be destroyed?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after the events of Spider-Man Homecoming and Doctor Strange. However, the Sokovia Accords were never implemented and the events of Civil War never happened. However, Steve did manage to find Bucky and Tony was informed of Bucky's involvement in his parent's deaths. This story also contains many triggering scenes. That's it! And I hope you enjoy!

Monday, June 26

New York City

7:30 a.m.

“Ring…Ring…Ring” rang the phone.

It was a warm morning in New York City. The blue neon “A” of the Avengers Tower shined brightly in the early morning sky, inspiring hope in the hearts of many. Many of the residents of the tower were still sleeping soundly, while a few had decided to cook breakfast. A certain Tony Stark was not one of these people. He’d finally managed to go to sleep at a decent hour, well decent for him. He slept peacefully in his bed with his arms around his slumbering girlfriend, Miss Pepper Pots. Silence enveloped the two like a blanket, keeping them asleep. However, that silence was interrupted by the constant ringing of a phone. More specifically Tony’s phone.

“Boss. Boss. Wake up” said Friday.

Tony just groaned in response. Pepper on the other hand tiredly cracked her eyes open.

“Boss Mrs. Parker is trying to contact you,” said the A.I.

Pepper shook Tony awake. The man woke up disoriented.

“May’s calling,” said Pepper.

“What? Put her through” he said, fully awake now.

The A.I. complied, happily.

“Hello,” said Tony.

“Tony! He’s gone! He’s gone! He’s gone!” cried a frantic May Parker.

“May, calm down! What are you talking about” asked Tony? He’d never heard May like this. So frantic. So worried. It wasn’t a good sound.

“Peter, he’s gone!” May sobbed.

“What? I’ll track his-” said Tony, but May had interrupted him.

“He doesn’t have his watch or his phone! I’m starring at them! He came back home from patrolling around 1. I was up waiting up on him and when he got back we talked for a little bit. I saw him go to bed. He was sleeping in his room!” sobbed May.

“May calm down. He may have snuck out some time while you were still asleep and did some more patrolling. You know how the kid can be” Tony argued. He tried to keep his voice even. May was already panicking, he had to be calm.

“No! He’s not patrolling! He left his suit here. It’s on his dresser with his phone and watch!” May cried!

“What?” said Tony.

By this time Pepper and Tony were getting very worried. Both of them loved Peter and treated him like family. He and May had come over to the Tower for dinner several times and Tony and Peter loved to spend time together in the lab talking about science or simply watching a movie in the living room. Pepper and Peter would even try out new recipes together. And hearing a frantic May on the phone crying about her missing nephew was not something they wanted to wake up to. It was horrifying, to say the least.

Pepper and Tony had already vacated the bed and both were rushing to throw on some clothes, not even really paying attention to what they were putting on. Tony absentmindedly told FRIDAY to wake the team and have them meet in the living room.

“He left a note, Tony. A goddamn note. I was getting ready for work and Mr. Ishiyama, Yumi’s father, called me and asked if I’d seen Yumi. I told him she hadn’t been over, and I went to Peter’s room to see if he knew where Yumi was. God! Tony when I looked in his room, he wasn’t there. I was about to check the bathroom, but then I saw his suit on his dresser with his watch and phone! And then I saw the note!”

“Why did he call you? Doesn’t Yumi live in Pennsylvania” asked Pepper.

“Peter and his friends would sneak out and hang out sometimes. And there still have been a few times when they’ve snuck out to meet each other since they started high school, despite the distance. Even when they aren’t sneaking around, they typically know where each other are. So he called me. And then he told me Ulrich was missing too!” May cried.

“Wait. Ulrich and Yumi are missing?” Tony was surprised, to say the least. He knew those kids had a tendency to get into trouble, but this was a bit much.

“A note! That doesn’t sound like Peter, May” said Pepper, trying to focus on one thing.

“I know. But it’s his handwriting. It’s for everyone.”

“What did it say? Did he say anything about where he was going?” asked Pepper.

“No, it’s vague. It said he had some things to take care of and he’d be gone for a while. He didn’t say where he was going or how. He just left. I-I-I” May sobbed.

“Hey May calm down. We’re coming over. Okay. We’ll figure this out together” said Tony.

“Okay,” said May.

* * *

Monday, June 26

2:00 a.m.

2:00 a.m. the perfect time for dreams. Even our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has found himself resting in his bed. Soft snores give way to a galactic space battle in the safe heaven of dreams. Peter was a rebel fighter of the rebellion, fighting off a squadron of Imperial fighters with R2-D2 at the head of his fighter. Ned was close by, taking out as many Imperial fighters as he could. Two large Imperial star destroyers drew closer.

“Ned you’ve got a fighter right behind you,” said Peter.

“Yeah, I’m trying to shake him,” said Ned.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a lock on him” said Peter.

Peter flew right behind the fighter and locked his guns on the ship. He squeezed the trigger and the ship was blown up.

“Nice one,” said Ned. “Let’s head back to the ship.”

“Right behind you.”

“Peter,” said a voice.

Peter looked around his fighter, trying to find the source of the voice, but didn’t see anyone.

“Ned, did you hear someone? It sounded like a woman” said Peter.

Suddenly the rebel ship disappeared along with the stars and the Imperial star destroyers.

“Ned? Ned where are you?” asked Peter, worried. Peter looked all around him, but couldn’t see his friend. He checked the scanner, but there wasn’t anything on them.

“R2? Where are we? What happened to everyone?” asked Peter. Panic lacing his voice.

“Peter?” said the voice. It was louder this time.

Suddenly a white light appeared in the distance.

“Who are you? What’s going on?” asked Peter.

The white light grew and quickly enveloped Peter, causing him to blackout.

Consciousness returned to Peter slowly but was not at all welcomed. He felt like he’d just gotten hit by a truck. His head was foggy, but it had a dull ache that was becoming more and more apparent the aware he became.

His eyes opened gradually. The first thing he noticed were two lumps in front of him. One was green and the other was blue. They seemed to lie there in the white void. Upon further inspection, Peter realized they were bodies.

He hulled himself – stilled dawned in his rebel uniform – up from the floor and stumbled towards the bodies. His head was spinning.

He rolled one of the bodies over. This one was a boy, a very familiar boy. The boy had short brown hair and wore a green shirt with blue jeans. It was Ulrich, one of his closest friends. A brother to Peter.

All grogginess and pain disappeared from Peter, as he quickly checked Ulrich over to see if he was alive. He noticed that his chest rose and fell and if he listened carefully he could hear the boy’s heartbeat. Peter calmed a bit at this knowledge and promptly started shaking Ulrich to wake him up.

“Ulrich! Ulrich! Wake up!” yelled Peter.

The boy’s eyes opened suddenly and he shot up, startling Peter. Ulrich looked around frantically until he locked eyes with Peter.

“Peter?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Why are dressed like that? Where are we?” Ulrich clutched his aching head in one hand. Peter looked down at himself, noticing that he was still in his rebel uniform.

“Uhh…I have no idea. I just woke up here.”

“Ulrich. Peter” said another familiar voice. The voice came from a boy further away. “Aah,” he groaned. “My head hurts.”

“Odd?” asked Ulrich. He glanced at Odd confused. None of this was making sense, Ulrich thought. He had just had a weird dream about going on a quest to find an ice cream sundae in the mountains of Choco. He must be craving ice cream or Odd’s strangeness was finally rubbing off on him.

“What’s going on here?” asked Peter.

“That’s what I would like to know? I also would like to know why you’re dressed as a rebel fighter from Star Wars, Peter” said a female. It was yet another familiar voice.

“Yeah, why are you dressed like that?” asked Odd.

“Odd you’re dressed as a policeman” countered Peter.

“Yumi. Aelita” said Ulrich, ignoring the other two boys.

Yumi was wearing a simple deep red shirt with black leggings. She was kneeling right next to Aelita, who was wearing a pink racing outfit. She was trying to wake the girl. “Almost everyone’s here,” she said.

“It seems that way,” said Ulrich.

“Is this a dream? Because this does not feel like a dream” said Odd.

“If this is a dream it would explain our outfits. I was just having a dream that I was a rebel who was fighting off a battalion of Imperial fighters with Ned” said Peter.

“Can’t be unless someone has suddenly gained powers or has gotten some new ones that they haven’t figured out how to control?” said Yumi, looking directly at Peter.

“Don’t look at me. I haven’t gotten any new powers” he said.

“Then we have a problem,” said Aelita. The girl had finally woken up.

“Indeed we do. This means that someone brought us here. But who?” asked a voice.

Everyone turned their heads towards the voice. Kneeling next to another sleeping form was Jeremy, who was dressed as an elf from Middle Earth.

“Even William’s here” noted Ulrich.

“And Jeremy’s dressed as an elf,” said Yumi, amused.

“Is anyone else going to show up or is it just us?” asked Peter.

“Maybe this could be one of those ‘watch their movies’ kind of thing,” said Odd.

“What?” asked a confused William. He was wearing a navy blue tank top with dark blue jeans.

“You know fanfictions. They’re a bunch of them. You even have some” said Odd, looking at Peter.

“What I do? Why didn’t you ever tell me about this” asked Peter?

“Guys we need to get back on topic. Why are we here? Where is here? And who brought us here?” asked Jeremy.

“I think I can help with that,” said a voice. This voice was not familiar to most of the kids, but Aelita got a strange feeling of nostalgia. It was almost like she had met this person before. Everyone swiveled their heads to meet the newcomer.

It was a woman. She had long red hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed in days let alone washed. She wore some ratty gray sweat pants and a navy blue shirt that had seen better days. On her feet were a pair of beat-up white sneakers. Her skin was pale. Far too pale to be considered healthy. Her eyes were a dull vacant emerald surrounded by dark sunken bags that stood out against her pale skin.

“Who are you?” asked Ulrich. He had somehow made his way to the front of the group with Jeremy standing right beside him, who had also magically appeared in the front of the group.

“My name's is Anthea. The wife of Waldo and Aelita's mother. I need your help” said Anthea with a sigh. “XANA’s back.”

* * *

New York City

2:30 a.m.

Peter quickly yet quietly packed up his things and prepared to leave the apartment. The meeting with Anthea changed things. It was shocking to finally meet Aleltita’s mother, they had been looking for her for years. Peter had even used FRIDAY several times, by making a special protocol in her with the help of Jeremy and Aelita. It allowed Peter to hack into different databases around the world without Mr. Stark ever finding out about it. This was in hopes that it would lead to a clue about Anthea’s whereabouts. But they got nothing every time.

Now with Anthea’s sudden appearance (In. Their. Minds.), there were several more questions that needed to be answered now. Not just the where has she been for all of these years. But also how had XANA managed to come back. And how and when did she get powers? This could all be a trap. Each and every one of them knew this, but there was something very strange about this situation. Not to mention the constant hum of his spidey senses. Even if XANA hadn’t returned it left the question of how someone outside of the Warriors knew about XANA.

Peter didn’t have any answers to these questions. No one did for now. So he did something he never wanted to do. He pulled out some paper and a pen and wrote a letter. He was sure Mary would find it in the morning. This is not the first time that Peter’s had to leave suddenly without any warning, but it doesn’t make it any easier. He took one last glance at his room; noticing the picture of May, Ben and him on the desk; and crawled through the window. He closed it and headed down the fire escape.

Peter transversed the alley’s and avoided cameras as best as he could. He wasn’t going to leave the city just yet. He had a stop to make in Manhatten, however, he wasn’t sure he’d make it. He wanted this time to be different. Now that he knows the Avengers, he thought for a second that things could be different this time. They would have the help they needed and XANA wouldn’t stand a chance against their combined force. But his senses kept going off the closer he got to Manhatten.

* * *

7:45 a.m.

“Tony, what’s going on? What happened to Peter?” asked Rhodey.

He was sitting in the living room along with the rest of the Avengers, excluding Thor and Banner. Thor was off-world and Banner was still MIA. Pepper sat by his side.

“Peter’s missing,” Tony said, numbly.

“What?” asked Rhodey.

“What do you mean Peter’s missing?” asked Wanda.

“Did he run off as Spider-Man again? We’ll just track his suit like we did the last time” said Steve.

“We can’t,” said Tony, quietly.

“Why not? Did he remove the tracker?” asked Sam.

“No. He didn’t take the suit. He didn’t even take his phone or his watch” replied Tony.

“Then he was kidnapped. We need to go to – “ Clint started to say.

“He wasn’t kidnapped. He left” said Tony.

“Do you mean he left?” asked Bucky. “That doesn’t sound like Peter. He wouldn’t just leave without his suit.”

“That’s what I said. But his aunt called and told us and said that Peter wasn’t in his room when she went to check on him. His suit was on the dresser with anything we could use to track us, along with a note that’s addressed to all of us. She also told us that Yumi and Ulrich are missing” said Pepper.

“Yumi and Ulrich are missing,” said Wanda.

“Yes. Mr. Ishiyama called May, asking if she had seen Yumi and Ulrich. Since the kids have had a history of running off to hang out without telling anyone – despite the distance between them – Mr. Ishiyama decided to ask May if Ulrich and Yumi were there. But May said they weren’t. When she went to ask Peter if he knew where Yumi and Ulrich were, she found his room empty. He left his suit, watch, and phone on his dresser with a note. May is currently calling Peter’s other friends to figure out where Peter, Yumi, and Ulrich are” said Pepper.

“All three of them are missing?” said Clint.

“This does not appear to be Spider-Man related,” said Vision.

“You said Peter left a note. What did it say? Did his friends leave notes too” asked Clint?

“It just said that he had something to do and needed to leave. I don’t know if anyone else left a note. May didn’t say” said Tony.

“This isn’t like Peter. He’s never been this reckless before” said Natasha.

“I know. Pepper and I are going to go to May’s right now” said Tony.

“I’m going with you,” said Clint.

“Me too,” said Rhodey.

Natasha merely stood up from her spot.

“Anyone else?” asked Tony.

* * *

4:00 a.m.

Peter ran down the tunnels of New York. A bruise forming on his cheek, a reminder of his unsuccessful mission. A staff clutched in his hand, ready to be used if the need arose.

‘XANA’s really back’ he thought with dread.

A ladder leading to the surface was coming up. His exit. Peter quickly climbed up the ladder and pushed opened the cover. He hauled himself out of the tunnel and into the dumpster that lay above. It was an old tunnel that Peter and Odd had discovered, on their many secret missions through the city. It wasn’t the best and most of the time Peter had to wash his clothes immediately or leave them on the fire escape and take a shower so May wouldn’t find out about his other secret life. But it was an effective way to transverse the city without detection. Besides, it was rather familiar in a way that Peter had loved until now.

Peter pulled himself out of the dumpster and walked out of the alley. Odd was waiting for him just outside of it with his white Toyota.

“You didn’t make it,” said Odd. He was leaning against his car with a nostalgic yet sad look on his face. His short blonde hair blew in the wind. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt with a diagonal purple and blue stripe on it along with dark blue jeans and purple sneakers.

“No. XANA stopped me before I could get there.” The gloomy air of the warm summer night turned gloomier as memories of XANA plagued their minds that they had long since tried to bury.

“Maybe Ulrich will have better luck,” said Odd. Although his voice spoke of hope, his face showed none of it. “I hope so.” Because hope was all they had. And despite the odds, it would have to be enough.

“So XANA’s really back.”

“Yeah. I was kind of hoping it would stay dead, so all we’d have to worry about is the Pheonix.”

“I think we were all hoping that.”

* * *

4:10 a.m.

Ulrich raced down the streets of New York on his motorcycle, passing by skyscraper after skyscraper. He was dressed in a dark green hoodie with a black helmet covering his head along with black jeans and black converse. He had a backpack and a sword on his back.

Ulrich suddenly swerved to his left, narrowly avoiding a fireball. He quickly drew his sword, awaiting more attacks. He revved his motorcycle, quickly approaching his opponents. A teenage girl, who seemed to have pyrokinesis, and a teenage boy. The boy struck the ground hard at Ulrich’s approach, splitting the road and nearly hitting Ulrich had he not dodged in time. The girl then encircled him in a ring of fire, causing Ulrich to stop his advancement. He got off of his bike motorcycle and drew his sword.

“Going somewhere, Ulrich?” said the girl.

“Yeah thought I’d visit a friend,” said Ulrich. “Didn’t count on seeing you here?”

“I thought we’d catch up. It’s been a while” said the boy.

“It has, not that I’m complaining” replies Ulrich.

“I see that you’re still reckless,” said the girl.

“I guess old habits die hard,” said Ulrich.

“Don’t worry I’ll fix that for you” said the boy as he charged at Ulrich with a barrage of fists.

“I’d rather you didn’t” replied Ulrich as he dodged.

Ulrich easily dodged the fists and hit the boy in the stomach with the back of his blade. The boy stumbled back and Ulrich punched him in the face, grabbed his head and kneed him in the face, effectively knocking him out.

However, he couldn’t afford to celebrate as he was knocked to the ground by the girl. Ulrich quickly picked himself off the ground. The girl was holding a ball of fire that she sent towards Ulrich. He quickly blocked the attack with his sword.

He charged at the girl, blocking all of her attacks and hit her with the hilt of his sword in the abdomen. He then hit her in the side of her neck, effectively knocking her out. He then got back on his motorcycle and attempted to drive towards the tower, but it didn’t seem like fate was on his side.

* * *

Monday, June 26

Boulogne-Billancourt, Pennsylvania

4:30 a.m.

Yumi stood at the entrance of the factory. She stared at it with a sense of nostalgia and remorse. The old structure stared back at her, holding secrets and painful memories. She never thought she’d find herself here again.

“It looks the same way we left it,” said a William, beside her. The ropes still dangled from the ceiling and the scent of old machinery and oil was still pungent in the air.

“Maybe not” replied Yumi. William stood by the girl, as memories assaulted his mind. He too had painful memories here.

“Only one way to find out,” said William.

“I guess” came Yumi’s uneasy voice.

The too descended into the factory, taking the elevator they thought they wouldn’t be riding again, and entered the lab that they had all congregated in at one time.

“You might want to head downstairs and start up the supercomputer. I’ll call Jeremy and let him know we’re here” said Yumi.

“Got it” replied William.

William took the lift to the lower levels of the factory and found himself looking at the supercomputer. The mark of XANA stared back at him, almost mockingly.

‘Never thought we’d be turning this on again’ thought William. With a bit of hesitation, he threw the lever down, powering up the supercomputer. He then made his way back upstairs.

“I’m running a scan of Lyoko, Jeremy,” said Yumi. The phone was on speaker and the sound of the engine of Jeremy’s car and the wind could be heard in the background.

“How’s it going?” The girl looked back at William at his arrival. “So far so good….Wait! Jeremy, we’ve got a problem.”

“What’s going on?” asked William. He hurried to the screen. There was a big flashing red exclamation mark on it. It disappeared and revealed something crashing against the invisible walls of Lyoko.

“It looks like something is trying to get into Lyoko,” said Yumi.

“XANA,” said Aelita. She was riding in the car with Jeremy. Her hands twitched with anxiety as she sat next to Jeremy. They were still around an hour and fifteen minutes away from the factory. They were driving from their dormitory in New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Aelita wanted to get to the factory quicker. She couldn’t stand to be sitting in the car doing absolutely nothing.

“Has it gotten in yet?” asked Jeremy. His hand drifted towards Aelita's hand. He grasped it and eased her anxiety.

“No” replied Yumi.

“Then I need you to run a program. The same program Hopper, Aelita, Peter and I developed, it should get XANA to stop trying to get into Lyoko for the moment. I’ll need to create another one to strengthen the walls of Lyoko though” said Jeremy.

“Okay, how do I do that?” asked Yumi.

“Listen closely, I need you to …”

* * *

9:00 a.m.

Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Clint, and Rhodey arrived at the Parkers' apartment quickly. They hurriedly knocked on the door. May threw the door open, appearing frantic and disheveled in the doorway.

“William’s parents called earlier, he’s missing too” her voice shook. Tears streamed down her face and her knees threatened to buckle under the crushing weight of her words. Pepper quickly brought her into a hug and steered them to the couch, May sobbing into the crook of her neck as they went.

The others went upstairs to Peter’s room to take a look inside. Peter’s room was neat and tidy, not at all like one would imagine a teenage boy’s bedroom would be. There weren’t any dirty clothes lying around on the floor and his room lacked a funky odor. The bed was made as well as if no one had slept in it that night. But his desk was cluttered with parts of computers and robotic equipment.

On his dresser, as May described, was the red and blue Spider-Man suit. A scrap of paper lied on top of it with his phone and watch. It looked so out of place there. Peter would have never let it stay out in the open, where someone could find it. It would have been hidden somewhere in his room. The fact seemed to make the situation even more real to Tony and he found himself trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

But the eyes of the mask stared back at Tony, as he approached the dresser. He took the mask in his hands and peered at the note. It was three sheets of paper that Peter had scrawled on the front and the back of. Tony grabbed it like it held the secrets to the universe. A hand landed on his shoulder that he distantly thought belonged to Rhodey, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. Instead, he did his best to compose himself and read the letter aloud.

_To All,_

_Hey guys. I want to apologize. I know this isn’t what you expected to be waking up to in the morning. To be honest, neither was I. Guess I was stupid for expecting a normal summer for once. Not that meeting the Avengers wasn’t exciting or anything. I love all of you. You’ve become a part of my family. But I can’t say that I don’t long for a normal life every now and then. But this isn’t about me and what I want._

_This is a goodbye letter. I know it’s a bit cliché. But I’m running out of options. As you probably know now, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, William, Jeremy, and Aelita are all missing. We decided to leave together for reasons I can’t tell you. But as you may have already assumed, it’s not Spider-Man related. Which is why I decided to leave the suit behind. I have to keep the reason for leaving and other things secret from you. And I know that breaks our promise and I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you everything. All of you. But I think that maybe it was for the best that I didn’t. I was scared that if I told you, you would be killed and by sharing that information it would put others in danger as well. But I never thought this would happen. So I need to apologize and say goodbye, at least for now –_

Tony stopped reading and slammed the letter back down on Peter’s desk. He shoved his way out of the semicircle that had formed around him to read the letter. He found himself unable to stay in Peter’s tiny room. Not with the raging emotions inside of him. He leaned against the wall outside of Peter’s room. His arm pressed against the wall with a fisted hand that was raised above his head.

He was angry, scared, and sad at the same time. This was the first time Peter had pulled anything like this. Tony knew the kid could be a bit reckless at times, but he was sure that he and practically every decent adult in Peter’s life had drilled in the point that he could rely on people to help. Tony thought he got the message, but it seems that he was mistaken.

Tony willed himself to get a handle on his emotions. He had a lot to do. He had to get FRIDAY to track down Peter by using security cameras on the streets, call Harley and Shuri, and somehow figure out what the hell Peter had been up to. That meant finishing that letter, without tearing it to shreds or destroying it with his tears. He’d probably get FRIDAY to scan it so that he would have a copy of it if he accidentally destroyed it. But Tony could barely focus right now, too overcome with emotions, just like every other person in the apartment who were worried about a few extremely reckless kids. 

* * *

Monday, June 26

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

6:00 am

Three vehicles flew down the empty interstate. Two motorcycles followed idly behind a white Toyota. XANA had finally managed to push the three out of the city. Peter had to pick up his motorcycle from a junkyard that no one used, where he kept it hidden as XANA’s minions chased them. Surprisingly not waking anyone, despite the noise. Now they were talking to Jeremy on the phone, the phone call coming through Peter and Ulrich’s helmets.

“Hey Jeremy,” said Odd with a tired voice. They would be at the factory in about thirty minutes, but that didn’t seem to give Odd much enthusiasm. Not after tonight.

“Odd, where are you guys at? You were supposed to call me” said Jeremy. His voice came to life in the silence of the car.

“Sorry. We forgot. A lot happened tonight. We’re in Pennsylvania” replied Ulrich.

“What happened?” Jeremy asked plainly.

“Ulrich and I were ambushed. XANA was pretty adamant about getting us out of New York” said Peter.

“Shit. I need all three of you back at the factory. XANA’s alive on the net and it’s been trying to get into Lyoko.”

“What?” came the three’s shocked expression.

“I’ll explain when you get here. But you need to be careful” replied Jeremy.

“Yeah, Jeremy. We’ll get to the factory as quick as we can” said Ulrich.

Sunlight tickled the navy blue sky as the three raced to the factory. Speckles of sunlight beautifully decorated the vehicles. The day had only just begun.


	2. Getting Organized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is finally here! Thanks so much for the kudos and comments. I really loved Code Lyoko when I was a kid and I have always enjoyed the Marvel movies, especially Spider-Man. So I thought it might be cool to merge the two worlds together. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

June 26 11:30 a.m.

New York City

This had been the worse experience that Tony has had at May Parker’s apartment. The reason for this was obvious. Peter wasn’t there. And no one knew where he was. His friends, Ned and Michelle, didn’t even know. Ned had taken the news that his friend was missing hard in particular. Although the two had decided to make a few calls to the decathlon members to see if anyone had seen Peter. That reminded Tony that he needed to call Harley and let him know about the situation. He and Peter had become friends over the past months.

In the meantime, he and the rest of the Avengers scoured the apartment thoroughly, looking for any clues that may point to what Peter was doing. They paid extra attention to his room. Hours went by as they continued to search. They found that Peter had clothes that were missing from his drawers and things like soap and his toothbrush were missing from his bathroom. It was as if he had packed up and left. And from what May had gathered from the Ishiyamas and Sterns, Yumi’s and Ulrich’s room looked the same. But no one had found anything of importance that would lead them to the kids’ location. All they had noticed was a ‘we’ in the note that Peter had left. And as it turns out. Peter wasn’t the only one to leave a note. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, and William had all left letters to their friends and family. The word ‘we’ came up in them too. Leading the Avengers to believe that the teens' departure was planned. But when Tony looked at Peter’s phone, he only found normal phone calls and texts to his friends. Nothing about leaving home.

Tony didn’t know what to make of this. Why would Peter and his friends just leave without telling anyone? Why hadn’t Peter gone to him with whatever he was doing? Didn’t Peter trust him? What was so important that he put himself in danger and just left?

Tony didn’t know, but he would find out. And he was going to start by looking at Peter’s baby monitor footage. He knows that this probably isn’t Spider-Man related, but Peter may have let something slip to KAREN. He also needed to review the footage that FRIDAY had found. Peter had apparently covered his trail very thoroughly and managed to edit the recording of the security cameras. According to FRIDAY, there were only two videos that she had managed to access, one was from 3:47 this morning the other was from 4:20 this morning.

Tony and the others left the Parker apartment with the promise of finding Peter. Tony had offered May a room at the Tower, but she had turned it down. She said she wanted to stay at her apartment in case Peter did show up. This all happened in a matter of hours. Now at 11:30 am, Tony sits in his lab with a phone, a watch, and a screen showing something he was struggling to make sense of.

On the screen was Peter Parker, dressed in black clothing with a pair of white tennis shoes peeking out from underneath his jeans. On his back was a black book bag that looked to be thoroughly packed. But what caught Tony’s eye was the chrome bo-staff that Peter swung at his mysterious opponent who had managed to dodge the attack. Tony couldn’t tell who the person was, even after watching the video over three dozen times in a row.

The figure swung one of its powerful legs at Peter. He blocked the attack with his staff, causing the figure to move backward. Just as Peter was about to spring forward, Peter was assaulted with three flying beams of light that he just barely managed to dodge. The person who sent them was out of the camera frame, so Tony couldn’t see him or her. But the thought of someone attacking his kid in the dead of night sent his blood boiling.

Having been stopped in his assault, the figure took this opportunity to spring itself forward, destroying the asphalt underneath their feet. Peter was met with a quick barrage of punches that he managed to dodge or block. Suddenly he grabbed the person’s hand and flung them somewhere out of view. Probably in the direction of the person who was trying to hit Peter with those light beams, thought Tony, as Peter managed to run away with no problem.

The video was strange, to say the least. Once Tony had managed to quail his anger somewhat. He started to notice things about it. Particularly about where Peter was fighting. He was fighting right outside of a small café on Stone Mill drive that Tony remembered taking to get to May’s earlier. But he did not recall the road being bumpy or having any evidence of there being a fight between super-powered people earlier that morning.

The fight didn’t look to be quiet either, yet no one was woken up by it. The police weren’t called. There hasn’t even been a post of the video anywhere on social media. ‘One would think that a fight that loud would wake up a few people’ Tony thought to himself.

Tony also noticed the way Peter was fighting. Or more of what he was using to fight. Tony had never seen Peter use a bo-staff before, yet he used it like he had been fighting with it all of his life. He remembered distantly that Ned had said Peter had fought some people with a pipe when they tried to force Aelita down an alley. But he didn’t think Ned meant this. This wasn’t some street fight with a couple of thugs. Peter fought of his opponents with the staff with confidence and skill. The video of Ulrich fighting off two people was strange too. It made Tony think about what else Peter and friends could be hiding.

“FRIDAY status update,” said Tony.

“I am sorry, but I haven’t been able to find any more sightings of Peter Parker in New York or any of his other friends that are missing,” said FRIDAY, sounding as sad as an AI could.

“Keep looking FRI. Expand the search if you have to” said Tony.

“Yes, Boss” replied FRIDAY.

“Tony” called Steve.

He was standing at the door looking inside the room. Tony jumped at the sudden voice. He was far too focused on finding Peter to realize that Steve was there.

“Lunch is ready. Come up. You need to eat” said Steve.

“Have you ever seen Peter use a bo-staff?” asked Tony

“What?” Steve was not expecting that question. It was sudden and came out of nowhere. “No. Tony, I think you need to take a break.”

“Me neither,” said Tony, ignoring Steve’s last comment. “Yet the kid somehow managed to use it like he’s always fought with it.”

“Tony, what are you talking about? When did Peter use a bo-staff?”

“At 2:47 this morning on Columbus drive,” said Tony. He moved one of his holographic screens and sent it towards Steve so he could watch the video.

“This happened this morning. We took Stone Mill to get to May’s, but there’s no evidence of this occurring” said Steve.

“I noticed that too. The video also doesn’t have any sound. I thought it was because the security camera was old and couldn’t pick up sound, but I checked the model. It’s a new camera”

“So it has to be something else”

“Yes. It may be why no one noticed anything. But there’s also the question of who was attacking Peter and why can’t we find any more footage of Peter in New York. Someone must have deleted the footage from the security cameras. Excluding the two that FRIDAY found they are all missing two hours worth of footage. Footage that I could be using to find Peter” said Tony.

“Tony,” said Steve. He rested his hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “We’ll find him and figure out what’s going on. But right now you need to eat. You’ve been up for almost five hours and you haven’t eaten anything at all.”

“Yeah, well I’ve got a kid to find,” said Tony.

“I want to find Peter as much as you do. And so do the rest of us. But we won’t get anywhere if we can’t function. So come up to the kitchen and eat lunch” said Steve.

“Cap, I think we both know I can function perfectly fine on a few cups of coffee for a couple of days. So get out of here so I can find Peter. You’re distracting” said Tony.

“Tony. You need to eat. You can’t save Peter if you’re starving yourself” said Steve.

“I’m not starving myself. I just need to find Peter and then I’ll eat” said Tony.

“Tony, I haven’t seen you come up to the kitchen since Peter went missing,” said Steve.

“Point?” asked Tony.

“My point is that you need to eat. Eating is just as important as finding Peter” said Steve.

“Really, because last I checked Peter’s the one who ran off to god knows where! And no one knows where he is” said, Tony.

“I know and we’ll-“

“No, you don’t know! He’s a fifteen-year-old kid, somewhere out there. He could be injured. He could be cold and hungry. He could even be…” Tony trailed off, not wanting to complete his sentence.

“Tony, we’ll find him,” said Steve. He had his hand on Tony’s shoulder, having crossed the room at some point during the argument.

“But you need to eat so that we can find Peter,” said Steve. “Alright. FRIDAY will let us know if she finds anything about Peter’s location.”

Tony sighed. “Okay, but only ten minutes.”

* * *

Monday, June 26

Boulogne-Billancourt, Pennsylvania

2:00 p.m.

The sounds of fighting filled the stale air in the old abandoned factory. William and Ulrich, both dressed in sweats, were sparing on a mat in an underground room of the factory, closed off from the world. Sweat slide down their faces as Ulrich aimed punches and kicks at William that were ultimately dodged. Odd and Yumi sat against the wall watching the fight. Odd had a phone in his hand that was quickly counting down to zero.

“30 seconds!” yelled Odd.

The spar got more intense. Ulrich desperately tried to land a hit on William, who would dodge at the last second. Which continued to frustrate Ulrich.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0” Odd said. “Time’s up.”

William and Ulrich stopped fighting and panted breathlessly. They had been having an intense spar on a time limit of two minutes on the pretense of decreasing learning how to defeat an opponent more quickly and efficiently. But really Ulrich was taking out his frustrations on William, who seemed to be going through the motions.

“Let’s go again” Ulrich demanded. He quickly got back in a sloppy fighting stance.

“Sure” replied William, absentmindedly. His breaths came out in pants as he was still lost in thought.

“No. Neither of you was focused. Ulrich, you were just throwing random punches and getting frustrated at yourself when they didn’t land” said Yumi, clearly annoyed. She had stood up from her spot next to Odd. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face showed a deep frown as she stood glaring at the two boys.

“I was focused” argued Ulrich.

“Me too. My stance just slipped sometimes” said William.

“That’s real rich coming from two of the strongest people I know. Ulrich, you weren’t even using a technique. You didn’t have any kind of stance. And you’re a lot quicker than that. Yet you were fighting like an idiot. Just stupidly moving your arms around.” She glared at Ulrich and quickly wiped her head around to face William. “And William! Your stance kept slipping because you keep zoning out. Every time Ulrich threw a punch, you were nearly knocked off your feet because you weren’t paying enough attention. You just barely dodged every attack.”

She let out a huff. Her hands now rested firmly on her hips. “If we are going to defeat XANA then you two need to stop acting like idiots.”

“I’m not being an idiot!” yelled William. “I am trying!”

“Yeah, because it clearly looked like you were trying” Yumi snapped.

“Why are you even calling me an idiot? I was the one who was actually fighting. William just kept dodging!” shouted Ulrich.

“And if you had used some actual technique or form, William wouldn’t be able to dodge” argued Yumi.

“How the hell is that a problem? What I thought dodging was one of the most important skills in a fight! One I supposedly ‘suck’ at.”

“William that’s not the point and you know it!”

“GUYS!” yelled Odd, his voice carrying over their raised voices.

The three turned their heads to the blonde, jaws snapping shut in the process. Odd was standing now, although he was a bit annoyed. 

“Why don’t we take a break. We’ve been at this for hours” said Odd. “Besides I’m hungry.”

“Fine” grumbled Ulrich.

“I guess you’re right. We haven’t really eaten today” said Yumi.

“Great! I brought sandwiches” said Odd, brightly. He was relieved to see Ulrich stop trying to use William like a punching bag.

Yumi and Ulrich left the room first. Odd went to follow them out of the room, but he noticed that William hadn’t moved yet. He stood in the middle of the room, unmoving. His eyes distance, seeing through the concrete wall before him.

This morning had been hard for them. And to think they were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing for once. No one was sneaking out in the middle of the night. Peter had returned form patrolling. Everyone was asleep. But strange creatures do go bump in the night, calling some heroes away from slumber.

After Odd, Peter, and Ulrich had arrived at the factory, Jeremy explained what was going on to everyone. Odd can recall it vividly. Despite the ice-cold fear that coursed through his veins, threatening to devour him whole. He can recall every word Jeremy said.

_7:20 a.m._

_The night air was warm in the small city of Boulogne-Billancourt. An old abandon factory sat in the middle of Seine River on the border of the city, fading into the background, forgotten. Although this may be true to the residences of Boulogne-Billancourt, this is far from the truth for seven teenagers. The factory holds secrets. Secrets that should have stayed buried. But it seems fate had other plans._

_There are three floors that lie below the factory’s surface level. The first underground level is the lab. The second is the scanner room. The third is the supercomputer room. And it is in the lab where we see our seven warriors; Odd Della Robbia, Jeremy Belpois, Aelita Stones, Yumi Ishiyama, William Dunbar, Ulrich Stern, and Peter Parker._

_“So XANA is really back,” said William. He was the tallest boy in the group. Standing at 6 feet tall, he had a chiseled jaw and the same hair cut as three years ago. He wore a dark red shirt with a black jacket and light blue jeans that had a few holes in them. On his feet were black sneakers. Standing next to him was Ulrich. He was a slender young man with a small build. He stood at 5’11”. He had a more chiseled jaw and a short haircut with a fade on both sides of his head. He wore a simple green T-shirt covered by a black jacket with black jeans and white tennis shoes._

_“We shut down the supercomputer. Shouldn’t that have been the end” said Yumi. She was a Japanese-American girl with medium length hair. She had grown some since her days at Kadic Academy. She was now 5’7’’ and a bit curvier than she was before. She wore a black and white striped short-sleeved crop top with back high waist jeans and black sneakers._

_“Unfortunately, it isn’t. If anything XANA seems to be pretty active. I’ve been looking at the data from the supercomputer. It seems that XANA has been awake since what we thought would be our final battle with it. We had only weakened it” said Jeremy. He was a scrawny blond boy who only was 5’6’’ and wore circular glasses. His hair was still the same from two years ago, but he had a deeper voice. He wore a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with khakis and blue sneakers._

_“What has X.A.N.A been doing” asked Odd. Out of everyone in the group he had changed the most. He now stood at 5’9’’ and his voice was no longer high-pitched. It wasn’t very deep, but it did have some bass too. His hair cut was also different. He now had a light fade with the rest of his blonde hair forming a slight bang in front of his face. He still, however, wore purple. Today he had on a white shirt with a diagonal purple and blue stripe on it with dark denim jeans and matching purple shoes._

_“It seems that XANA has recreated its replicas on the net” responded Jeremy with a frustrated sigh. “I just finished scanning, and XANA seems to have nearly as much territory as it did two years ago.”_

_“How has X.A.N.A. been doing this? We destroyed X.A.N.A and shut down the supercomputer. This shouldn’t be happening” said Aelita. Aelita had grown a little as well. She was now 5’5’’ and had the same hair cut as two years ago. She had changed the least out of all of the warriors. However, she was beginning to get a bit curvier and hips were getting wider. She wore a dark burgundy polka-dotted shirt covered by a black cropped top jacket with a pair of black pants and burgundy sneakers._

_“I don’t know,” said Jeremy. “I’m still looking into it.”_

_“Well XANA’s definitely stronger than before. Ulrich and I were ambushed by xanafied teenagers on the way to the tower. They even had powers” said Peter. He had pale skin and dark brown eyes. He stood at 5’ 8’’ and had brown curly hair. He wore a black hoodie with dark denim jeans and white tennis shoes._

_“No way,” said Yumi._

_“Yeah, they’re strong too,” said Ulrich._

_“This is bad,” said William._

_“How did XANA do this? Did it just mind-control people with powers?” asked Odd._

_“I don’t think it’s that simple. It’s not like there’s a bunch of people hiding their powers away from the government. Someone would have already reported that” said Jeremy. “Something more must be going on.”_

_“I think so as well,” said Aelita. “That’s why I can’t trust my mother. At least not now.”_

_“So you find her suspicious as well,” said Jeremy._

_“Yes,” Aelita said with a nod. “She suddenly appears in our heads at night by her own ‘power’ and tells us that XANA is back. Why did she tell us? Why not the Avengers? Why did she tell us now? How did she get her powers? Where is she? Where has she been all this time? There are so many questions. I just can’t trust her right now.”_

_“Yeah. There are a lot of questions surrounding your mother right now. There’s a lot of questions surrounding this whole situation” said William._

_“And we don’t have any support,” said Yumi._

_“We didn’t have any support last time and we still made it through,” said Odd, trying to stay positive._

_“But XANA seems stronger now,” said Ulrich. “This is going to be a lot harder than last time.”_

_“Besides there’s something you should know,” said Peter. “I didn’t want to say anything until we all got here. Tonight’s been kind of rough for all of us. But this isn’t a normal fight against XANA this time.”_

_“What do you mean?” asked Yumi._

_“When XANA ambushed me, I kept escaping. I tried to go forward and get to the tower as quickly as I could. But then XANA did something I wasn’t expecting. It tried to kill itself or the girl who it decided to inhabit” said, Peter._

_“What,” said William, surprised._

_“No way” Yumi shuddered._

_“Peter you can’t be serious,” said Ulrich._

_“I am. I relented and said that I’d leave New York if it let the girl go. But XANA wanted a bit more from me. From us. Like I said this isn’t a normal battle. This is a game. XANA has given us certain rules that we can’t break or it will mean death” said Peter._

_“Death? To who? Our families?” asked Odd._

_“Yes, and the people it's kidnapped. XANA’s using them as leverage to get what it wants” said Peter._

_“What are the rules, Peter?” asked Jeremy._

_“We can’t get help from anyone from law enforcement, including SHIELD and the Avengers or tell them anything related to Lyoko. That includes the Green Pheonix and Aelita's mother. Anyone who helps us must become a Warrior, essentially dragging them into this mess against their will. And all of those who have been captured by XANA, are already included in this death game” finished Peter._

_“What the fuck,” said William._

_“Son of a bitch” muttered Yumi._

_“That monster,” said Aelita._

_“Jeremy, what do we do?” asked Odd._

_“The only thing we can do. Fight. I know that the situation seems dire now and XANA’s power has grown. But our power has grown as well. We are in control of Lyoko now, Peter has powers, and William is on our side now. This time we’ll defeat XANA for good and finally find Anthea” said Jeremy._

_“Jeremy’s right. We’re the Lyoko Warriors. We fight until the end” said Ulrich._

_“Right. The job’s not done until XANA’s gone” said Yumi._

So here they were fighting off XANA again for a second time. Despite everything they had sacrificed to defeat XANA the first time, it seemed like it wasn't enough. But it spurred everyone to action. It was why Ulrich and Yumi were yelling at each other. It was why the brainiacs were in the lab fixing the Skid and writing new programs. And Odd knew for a fact that they hadn't slept more than five hours. 

But maybe Odd should have been paying more attention to William. Now that Odd looked at him, it looked like William hadn't slept at all. In hindsight, it wasn't surprised. William was being mind-controlled by XANA for months, Odd reminded himself. He was practically XANA's slave, being forced to carry out whatever sick and evil plans it had. William still couldn't fully recall what happened during those months, but what he did recall wasn't pleasant. When he did recall a memory, he'd have panic attacks so bad he'd pass out. He wouldn't even let anyone touch him. He'd just blame himself for whatever happened. And that wasn't even the worst of it. 

Odd approached William slowly and gently grabbed his shoulder. He squeezed it slightly. "William," he said.

"Huh," said William. He jerked a bit, having suddenly been addressed. But Odd kept his hand on William's shoulder, despite it.

"Let's go eat lunch," said Odd. "Then we can play Mario Kart. I brought my Switch."

"Aren't we supposed to be training?" said William.

"We will be training. Gotta know how to drive right" said Odd.

"I don't think Mario Kart is the best thing...Sure Odd. We'll play Mario Kart" said William, stopping his argument after he saw Odd pouting. 

"Yes! Come on let's go" said Odd, excitedly. He took William's hand and dragged him away. William couldn't help but smile at Odd's enthusiasm.

* * *

New York City

2:00pm

"Breaking news," said a reporter. Her face appeared on one of the many screens in Times Squares, drawing the attention of the bustling people on the street. "The group of teenagers behind the youtube channel 'End of Take' has been reported missing. Ulrich Stern, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, William Dunbar, Jeremy Belpois, Aelita Stones, and Peter Parker have all been reported missing by their guardians today." 

"What?"

"No way."

"How'd this happen?"

"Did someone kidnap them?"

"Probably Stark's fault. That Peter Parker's his intern, ain't he."

Murmurs went through the streets of New York. While the teens weren't "Tony Stark" famous, Peter and Odd had a bit of fame in New York. Peter was the intern of Tony Stark, which Stark Industries had been made public in November, a few weeks after the Vulture incident. It wasn't uncommon to see him on the streets of New York City with Tony or another Avenger. Peter could also be seen quite frequently on Youtube. Odd had asked him to be in videos with him in the seventh grade. And although Peter was reluctant at first, he agreed. Now, Peter and Odd would film most of their Youtube videos during summer break, and release them throughout the year. They filmed pranks, comedy skits, experiments, how-to videos, and Peter even sang in some of them. 

End of Take had become quite popular over the years. Over four years, they had amassed 3.7 million subscribers and millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram. They had even been on TV a few times, mostly when Odd's parents invited them to a gala. Odd's parent's made up some of Odd's fame, although most of it was because of End of Take. When he was younger, before he met Peter and the others, his parents would always drag him to galas and private showings of movies. Although Odd hated most of it, not including the private showings, he did become interested in film making because of it. It was why he decided to enroll in a visual and performing art school for high school.

"It appears as though the teens have run away from home, although a motive is not known at this time. Tony Stark is expected to release a statement later today. Law enforcement is asking anyone who might know anything about the teens' whereabouts to please contact them" the reporter finished.

"Runaway from home?" someone asked. "Why would they do that?"

"That doesn't seem like them at all," said another. "Something else had to have happened. Maybe it has something to do with the Avengers."

"What? No way man. Peter's just an intern."

"They ran away from home? But Odd always looked so happy."

"You never know what happens behind closed doors."

A curly-haired girl pushed her way through the crowd of people, who had just stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to listen to the news. News that she already knew, but didn't want to hear. She didn't want to hear the newswoman talking about her friends, announcing their disappearance to the city. She didn't want to hear random strangers reacting to the news. Speculating and imagining things that could never happen, would never happen. 

And she had wanted to get away from her mother, who was probably still talking to Peter's aunt, trying to gather as much information as possible. It had been like that all morning. MJ was woken up by her mother at an ungodly 8 o'clock in the morning during summer break. She just wanted to sleep. Her pillow was soft and the bed was warm, but what came out of her mother's mouth made her blood freeze. She was wide awake after her mother told her that Peter was missing. She immediately got dressed opened up the Academic Decathalon group chat and messaged everyone in it. She asked if anyone had seen Peter, but no one had. She called Harley next, to see if he had heard from Peter, but Harley didn't even know Peter was missing.

It took a long time to calm Harley down and in the end, she wasn't the one who calmed him down. Tony had called and Harley hung up to talk to him. She's pretty sure, she'll be seeing him soon. Afterward, she checked social media. She went through all of Peter's accounts. But he hadn't posted a single thing since yesterday at 7 pm and it was only a picture of some cookies he made. But it did seem that many people didn't know about Peter's disappearance. There weren't any comments regarding his disappearance, but MJ knew that would change eventually.

And then 2:10 came, and MJ found herself in the library. She had gotten a book, but she wasn't reading it. The book wasn't even opened and she hadn't cared to even look at the cover. She just kept staring at her phone. There were so many comments now. So many well wishes. So many people begging Peter and the others to come home. It was a bit overwhelming, but MJ couldn't pull her eyes away from the screen. She had to keep reading. Because she hoped that one of the comments would lead to her finding Peter. But she knew deep down that it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing involving Peter Parker or any of the others was ever easy. It was like they all had bad luck sometimes. But she couldn't stop hoping that maybe she'd get lucky and find Peter.

* * *

The Factory

4:10 pm

"Woo-woo"

The alarm blared to life in the quiet lab where Jeremy, Aelita, and Peter were working, altering them to an activated tower. The three had been working for hours and had managed to fix the Skid. They were just in the middle of updating the other vehicles when the alarm went off.

"There's an activated tower on one of the replikas" said Jeremy. His fingers flew across the keyboard, as he readied the virtualization program. Peter and Aelita jumped up from where they were sitting on the floor and gathered around Jeremy to see the monitor.

"Can you tell what's going on?" asked Aelita.

"No. You're going to have to go the replika and deactivate the tower," said Jeremy.

"I'll go get the others," said Peter. He ran into the elevator to get William, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich, who were sparring in another room.

"I'll head down to the scanners," said Aelita.

"I'm starting up the virtualization program," said Jeremy.

She quickly took the ladder that connected the lab to the scanner room. She stepped into one of the three yellow cylindrical-shaped scanners, the doors closed quickly behind her.

"Transfer Aelita," said Jeremy. His voice echoed in the scanner. Aelita closed her eyes as air blew up from below.

"Scanner Aelita." A yellow beam of light scanned the red-head as her hair blew up and away from her face.  


"Virtualization."

Aelita was quickly materialized in Sector V. She stumbled as she tried to land on her feet. She regained her balance and stood on the blue and white spinning eye of XANA. 

"I'm here Jeremy," said Aelita. She looked down at herself and noticed that her outfit had changed. She now wore a pink purple and white jumpsuit that had designs on it with a split skirt. She had arm gauntlets and her hair was in a half up half down style. It was pink. "Looks like I've got a new look," said Aelita.

"Yeah. It looks good" complimented Jeremy. "The others will be there in a second."

Just as Jeremy said the others came quickly, all of them stumbling as they dropped into Lyoko.

"We're back," exclaimed Odd!

"Look. We've got new suits" said Peter.

They looked down at themselves and noticed that their outfits had changed from the last time they were in Lyoko. William was dressed in a black jumpsuit that was accented by orange stripes. His weapon was a large two-handed single-bladed sword. Ulrich wore a black and yellow jumpsuit with a yellow headband. On his back was were his two katanas. Yumi wore a red jumpsuit with dark purple accents and a long flowing belt that also had purple accents. Her hair was gathered in a bun on top of her head. Her fans were tucked away on her back. Peter had on a red jumpsuit that was very similar to his Spider-man suit. However, it had the spider emblem on the back and small spiders on the legs of the suit. On his wrists were two gauntlets, where his string was held and could be launched from. They functioned a lot like his web-shooters, but his strings were nearly indestructible and could be used to create various items that were typically weapons. When Peter became Spider-Man, he actually based the web-shooters off of his gauntlets. Peter didn't wear a mask, leaving his tattooed face exposed. Odd had on a purple and yellow jumpsuit with. His purple gloved hands had claws on them.

“Wow! Cool!” exclaimed Odd. “We’ve got new outfits again.”

“I guess Peter’s even a spider in Lyoko” noted Yumi.

“Odd, you don’t look that much like a cat anymore,” said Peter. “Well, you still have the tail.”

“You look like even more of a ninja than Ulrich, Yumi,” said Aelita.

“My suit didn’t change that much,” said William.

“Neither did mine,” said Ulrich.

“Guys, focus. Get to the hangar” said Jeremy.

“Right,” said Ulrich. The Warriors began running down the familiar passage of sector V. Taking the lift up to the hangar, where the skid was waiting for them.

“Aelita, Peter, and I managed to fix the skid from the last time. So it should work fine” said Jeremy. “I’ll energize you.”

Jeremy energized them into the skid, putting Aelita in the pilot’s seat. Aelita then undocked and began heading to the digital sea. She dove into the digital sea and put in coordinates for the hub. The Skid speed through digital water, passing by servers and processors that were shaped like upside-down buildings. Aelita was careful not to hit any of the upside-down buildings.

“Breaking News," said a reporter. Jeremy had pulled up the news on the monitor looking for any major events. "A drone and missile strike has been launched from a supposedly abandoned U.S. military base in New York. As of now, no one knows how the missile was launched and who did it. The air force has been mobilized and the Avengers have been called to help. The military is looking into where the missiles are headed to in order to stop them before they meet their target” she finished.

"Guys, I think I know what XANA's up to," said Jeremy.

"What?" asked Odd.

"Yeah, Jeremy don't leave us in the dark," said Ulrich.

"It's launching a drone and missile strike from an abandoned U.S. military base in New York," said Jeremy.

"Shit" cursed Odd. "Is it going to target the factory again?"

"It probably won't. It could have done that years ago if it wanted" said Yumi.

"Then why is it shooting missiles? Who is it targeting?" asked William.

"Don't know," said Jeremy. "But in any case two of you will have to go to Earth to destroy the missiles before they reach their targets. However, with the media out, you'll probably be caught on camera."

"That could be a problem," said Ulrich. 

"Yeah and the Avengers are going to show up eventually," said Jeremy.

"Can't we just do a return trip to the past?" asked Odd.

"XANA is already too powerful, we can't afford to give it any more power" replied Aelita.

"Besides the media is already blaming this on Hydra," said Jeremy. "Let's keep it that way. The more they focus on someone else, the less they'll focus on us" said Jeremy.

"Sure," said Peter. "But how are we going to fool the Avengers. They know who we are."

"We'll take a page out of your book. We'll wear masks" said Aelita. 

"Yes! This is going to be so cool. You can make masks for us Peter" said Odd.

"Looks like Odd is going. Who's going to go with him?" asked Ulrich.

"William, will go with me," said Odd.

"Sure. I'll go with you Odd" said William.

"You sure you can handle it William?" asked Yumi.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked William, a bit offended.

"This isn't sparring practice. This is a real mission. You need to focus" said Yumi.

"I was focusing at practice" argued William, very annoyed. "I was able to dodge all of Ulrich's attacks."

"Just barely" Yumi shot back. "And Ulrich actually put up a fight this time and use some technique."

"I thought we were done with this" complained Ulrich. "Maybe you need to worry about yourself. You didn't-"

"Enough," said Jeremy, clearly annoyed by all three of them. "William and Odd are going to Earth to deal with the XANA attack there. The rest of you are going to the replika to fight XANA on the network. Everyone needs to be careful and on guard. This the first XANA attack we will be stopping in a while. XANA's gotten stronger over the years and we need to be prepared for anything it throws at us."

Silence filled the Skid after that. Tensions had been running high, and all of them knew not to bring whatever problems they were having earlier to the battlefield. Now was not the time or the place. They could deal with all of their issues once they finished the mission.

"Approaching the hub," said Aelita. The Skid slowed down as the hub came into view. It looked like a metal donut that was connected to various computers in the digital sea by metal tubes that sent transferred data. In the middle of the hub was a swirling red mass of energy. "Broadband acceleration in 3, 2, 1, 0."

The Skid dove into the hub, disappearing from sight.

* * *

New York

"Think it's Hydra," asked Sam?

The Avengers were on the quinjet, headed towards the abandoned military base that was firing missiles. Steve, Clint, Tony, Sam, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey, and Natasha were all scattered about on board. Natasha and Clint were piloting. Steve and Sam were standing near the cockpit, as they neared the military base. Wanda and Vision were sitting on one of the benches of the ship. While Tony and Rhodey were sitting in the very back of the ship. 

Tony barely acknowledged his best friend as he sat on the bench. To say that Tony was pissed, would be an understatement. Peter was missing and some dumbass had decided to launch missiles. He had been in the middle of reviewing baby monitor footage and gathering all of the information he could about the kids, which getting information about Aelita was proving to be quite difficult. This only added to his bad mood. Tony was ready to kill someone. And no one doubted that when they finally arrived at the military base, it would be reduced to a pile of rubble and scattered bodies by the time Tony got through with it. So no one dared to talk to Tony. Not even Rhodey, who was just keeping him company and being silent support. 

"Can't be. Even they aren't this stupid?" said Natasha. 

"Then who?" asked Sam. "It's not every day someone manages to access an abandoned military base and operate missiles."

"Why are the missiles even there? Aren't they supposed to be removed?" asked Wanda.

"They are" replied Steve. "Standard military procedure."

"Someone probably got lazy and decided to leave deadly weapons just lying around," said Clint.

"I can't see how that is a wise thing to do," said Vision.

"In any case, we need to make this quick. We've got bigger things to worry about," said Steve

"Wait. Who did that" asked Clint? He pointed to a black cloud of smoke in the distance. It was the remnants of a missile that had just been blown up. 

"I thought the military hadn't arrived yet," said Wanda.

"That wasn't the military," said Natasha. 

"Clint put the ship down" ordered Steve. "I think we're close enough."

* * *

Replika

A heated battle brewed on the replica of the forest sector between XANA’s monsters and the Warriors. The tower was located at the edge of the replica guarded by a group of monsters with only one entrance to it. Aelita and Yumi were trying to destroy all of the monsters guarding it, but there were too many. They took cover behind a few trees, to keep away from the constant fire of laser cannons. Peter and Ulrich were a little further away from them, but could still be seen by Yumi and Aelita. They were currently trying to defeat two gigantic monsters, but it was proving to be very difficult.

“What are these things?” asked Peter, as he dodged an attack.

The monsters he and Ulrich were fighting were new. Apparently XANA had had enough time to create new monsters for the Warriors to battle. This monster, in particular, looked similar to an ostrich, having only two long arms with metal at the ends of them. It also had a short but sturdy ribcage that led to its long tail. There were large techno-organic spikes along its tail and a sharp large blade at the end of it. Its head resembled a bird and had a red eye of XANA on it. Not only was the creature so big and massive that its footsteps shook the ground, but it also shot lighting and used its tail like a stinger to try to attack the teens.

“I don’t know” replied Ulrich. “But what do you think Odd’s going to call it?”

“Hopefully nothing stupid,” said Peter, as he dodged an attack from the monster’s massive tail.

“One thing’s for sure. These things are ugly” said Ulrich. He tried slashing at the monster with his blades, but it pushed him back.

“Yeah. You could say that again” said Peter.

“Hey, Aelita, Yumi! How you doing over there?” asked Ulrich.

Aelita and Yumi were shooting at the monsters, or in Yumi’s case throwing her fans at them. Three of them were Bloks. Another three were Kankerlats. And two of them were Tarantulas. Well, make that one of them. Yumi had just managed to destroy a Tarantula.

“It’s not exactly a picnic over here guys,” said Yumi.

“There’s so many of them,” said Aelita.

“Aah!” Yumi cried out. She dropped to her knees and clutched her right shoulder, where she’d been shot by a Kankerlat. Her shoulder screamed and pulsed with a pain that Yumi was unaccustomed to on Lyoko. It almost took her breath away.

“Yumi, are you alright,” asked Aelita as she jumped in front of Yumi to try to cover her.

“T-T-That hurt” Yumi panted. She was confused. Why was her shoulder hurting that bad? It felt like she had actually been shot in the arm.

“Jeremy” Aelita called desperately. She didn’t know what was going on, but she couldn’t turn around to look at Yumi. Not with all of the monsters shooting at them.

“Oh no! XANA’s managed to alter the devirtaulization process” came Jeremy’s frantic voice. “If you get devirtaulized, you’ll die!”

“No, not again,” said Aelita, as she recalled the previous time that XANA had played this trick. It wasn’t fun. And her friends had nearly been killed.

“XANA playing the same trick twice, isn’t that a bit strange,” said Peter, as he threw knives at the monster. He quickly threw a glance over his shoulder to check on Yumi. He could see Yumi on the ground clutching her shoulder. Her chest was heaving as pain coursed through her body.

“Yumi, are you alright?” asked Ulrich. But he did not receive a response back from the girl. “Shit. Jeremy, can’t you fix it the same way you fixed it the last time?” asked Ulrich, desperately as he stared at Yumi. He knew how dangerous this was. Not only were they away from Lyoko, but XANA had somehow made devirtualization fatal. He narrowly dodged another incoming attack from the monster, as he brought his attention back to the fight.

“It’s not that simple. The last time XANA had access to this Supercomputer, but now it doesn’t” said Jeremy.

“Then how did XANA mess up the devirtualization process?” asked Yumi. She had finally regained her bearings and began fighting again, although her right shoulder screamed with pain. She tried throwing her fans with both hands, ignoring the pain in her right shoulder.

“The Skid” Aelita said, suddenly.

“That’s right! The Skid is what is linking us to this replika, which operates on a supercomputer that XANA has taken control of. The changes that XANA made probably include a program that altered the devirtualization process in the Skid” said Jeremy.

“Shit! This is bad” said Peter, as he tried to put more distance between himself and the monster.

“Why?” asked Ulrich, blocking an attack with his sword.

“Because – Aaaah!” screamed Peter, as he was shot with electricity. He had barely enough time to bring his arms up to block the oncoming attack before he was sent flying across the forest. He landed in a painful heap at the base of a tree, several feet away from Ulrich and the others.

“Peter!” screamed Jeremy and Ulrich.

“Ugh” groaned Peter.

“Peter, are you alright,” asked Aelita, as she aimed another energy field at a Kankerlat, destroying it.

“Shit, Peter,” said Yumi, worriedly as she threw both her fans out at a Tarantula, only for it to be dodged.

“Peter come on get up,” said Ulrich, as he tried to fend off both the monsters.

“Jeremy,” said Aelita, scared.

“He’s only got 60 life points left,” said Jeremy. “This is why it’s bad. The pain you feel on the replika is real. XANA didn’t make a software change to the replika. It did the same thing five years ago. It made a hardware change. It physically altered the devirtualization program.”

“So that means you can’t fix the devirtualization process,” said Yumi, a bit of fear coursed through her body. But she pushed it away and focused on destroying monsters.

“Now the net is even more dangerous” whispered Aelita, stunned.

“That’s it I’m bringing everyone back,” said Jeremy.

“No, we can handle this Jeremy. We didn’t just leave home to fight a homicidal AI only to run away when the stakes get too high” said Ulrich, determined. “Fighting XANA has always been dangerous.”

“But-“ started Jeremy.

“Ulrich’s right,” said Peter, finally getting back up. His body was still pulsing with the electric current, but he paid no attention to it. He was more focused and determined than ever. “XANA’s back and it’s our job to defeat it.”

“Nothing’s actually changed, Jeremy,” said Aelita.

“Okay, but be careful. Get to the tower as quickly and as safely as you can” said, Jeremy.

“You’ve got it, Einstein,” said Ulrich.

* * *

New York

“That makes 23 drones” cheered Odd, as he blew up yet another drone. He soared through the sky on his purple overboard.

“Only 23. I’ve destroyed 30” said William. He was flying on Ulrich’s overbike, slashing at drones and missiles as they rose from the ground.

“No way. You missed counted. I’m sure I hit more than you” argued Odd.

“In your dreams, Odd” laughed William.

“Why are there so many drones anyway?” asked Odd.

“I’m not sure” replied William. “Hey look.” William pointed at a missile behind Odd. Odd quickly turned around and shot the missile down with his laser arrow, before William could fly closer to the missile.

“See I am faster. And I’ve got a larger range” said Odd.

“I still got 30,” said William. Odd crossed his arms annoyed and stuck his tongue out at William.

“Come on Odd, don’t be a sore loser,” said William, as he aimed an energy slash at another drone.

“Whatever,” said Odd. He aimed a barrage of arrows at more missiles rising from the ground. “Weren’t the Avengers supposed to be called in to deal with this? Where are they?”

“They should be here by now,” said William.

“Odd, William,” said Jeremy.

“Yeah Jeremy” replied Odd.

“Is Aelita at the tower yet?” asked William.

“Not quite. They’re still battling their way through monsters” said Jeremy. “You need to be careful. Don’t let any of the missiles hit you. XANA managed to change the devirtualization program on the replika. If you get devirtualized, you die.”

“Can’t you fix that Jeremy?” asked Odd, a bit worried,

“No, I can’t. It’s not a software problem. I’d need physical access to the supercomputer to fix it” replied Jeremy.

“So don’t get hit,” said Odd. “Got it.”

William felt cold dread wash over his body. He thought that the situation couldn’t get any worse. XANA had already forced them away from home and had kidnapped several children for an unknown reason.

“William” called Odd.

William jumped at hearing his name and nearly fell off the overbike, when a drone blew up near him.

“Thanks” William whispered.

“Hey, it’ll be alright,” said Odd. “It’s not now, but it will be. Being devirtualized may be fatal now, but we’ll get through this.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said William. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and held his sword tighter in his hand. He sent another wave of energy at some approaching missiles and drones, destroying them.

Odd smiled at him and said, “Don’t get carried away. You’ve got to save some for me.”

“Then you better keep up,” said William.

Odd took aim at another missile, but it was suddenly blown up before he could hit it. A cloud of dust and debris formed as the missile was destroyed. A red and gold titanium alloy suit came shooting out of the debris, aiming a repulsor at Odd and William.

“Who are you,” he asked, coldly.

“Shit! The Avengers are here” said Odd, surprised.

* * *

Replika

“Guys, you need to wrap this up,” said Jeremy. “The Avengers have arrived and Iron Man is not happy.”

“How pissed is he exactly?” asked Peter, as he stood behind a tree. His body still ached from being electrocuted. He distantly wondered if he would have burns on his body when he rematerialized. His hand clutched a taunt, yet a thin piece of string in his hand. Ulrich stood between the two oversized monsters at the edge of the replika, baiting them.

“What you worried Peter?” asked Ulrich. He clutched his katanas in his hand, although his arms and legs ached from being hit with the monsters' tails a few times, preparing to charge. 

“No just a bit curious” denied Peter.

“He seems pretty angry. He was aiming a repulsor at Odd and William, but a missile almost hit him, and Odd had to save him,” said Jeremy.

“So he’s like really pissed,” said Peter.

“Yep!” yelled Ulrich as he jumped up and charged at the monsters. They swiped their tails at him, but Ulrich spun in the air, flipping over their bodies and landed on the other side. Peter pulled the string even tighter when Ulrich managed to jump over the monsters, causing them their feet to get cut, by the sharp string. The monsters came crashing down and tumbled into the digital sea.

“Finally,” said Peter, relieved.

“Aelita’s almost at the tower,” said Yumi.

There was only a tarantula guarding the tower now. After a grueling battle that left both Yumi and Aelita with less than 40 life points, they had managed to destroy most of the monsters. Aelita and Yumi both took aim at the tarantula. The tarantula managed to shoot Yumi’s fan but was hit by Aelita’s energy field instead.

“Go Aelita,” said Yumi.

Aelita nodded her head and ran into the tower. She was quickly levitated to the second platform and deactivated the tower.

“Tower deactivated,” she said, as all of the running programs fell down the tower.

* * *

New York

4:30 pm

“The missiles have stopped firing and the situation is now under control. The Avengers along with the military are investigating this incident. As of now we still don’t know who hacked into this base and launched a missile and drone strike, the target of the attack, or who supplied the missiles” reported a reporter from a few yards from the military base.

Meanwhile, the Avengers were in the base. Tony was on one of the old military computers from the abandoned base, trying to figure out who has been the incident. The other Avengers were standing behind him, conversing amongst themselves.

“Any luck Tony?” asked Steve.

“No, I can’t find a trace of anyone accessing this military base since the 60s,” said Tony.

“Are you serious?” asked Sam.

“Yeah, it’s like they disappeared completely,” said Tony.

“That’s impossible. No matter how good a person is at hacking, they always leave a trace” said Natasha.

“I know. I can’t seem to find it” said Tony.

“Strange. What about those guys that you saw. Who are they?” asked Clint.

"I don't know. They were wearing masks" replied Tony. "I thought that may have been the ones who started the drone and missile strike, but I'm not so sure."

"They did seem to be helping us," said Wanda. "But why were they here? Why not just leave the job to us?"

"Where did they get the tech they were using?" asked Natasha. "You said one was flying on a monocycle with a large sword in his hand."

"Yes, I believe it was a Zweihander," said Vision.

"The other one, the blonde, was flying on a hoverboard," said Rhodey.

"In any case, this whole situation is strange. First, someone decides to launch a drone a missile strike and then two masked individuals show up out of nowhere with advanced tech, destroying drones and missiles. And suddenly vanish in thin air. And we couldn't find anyone in the base or around it that may have launched the attack" said Natasha.

"Something's not adding up," said Clint.

“Tony did you manage to find out what the targets were?” asked Rhodey.

“Yeah, but they were completely random. In fact, most of the targets were rural areas where no one lives” said Tony.

“Are you serious?” asked Sam.

“Yeah. It’s just one strange thing after another” said Tony.

“Whoever it is, we’ll find them,” said Steve. “In the meantime, it’s best if we stay on alert for any suspicious activity.”

The Avengers silently agreed. Tony, however, was ready to leave so he could get back to his lab. He had to find Peter. And this attack was just a waste of time. 


	3. Discovery

Tuesday, June 27 7:00 a.m.

The Hermitage

“Breaking News” reported George Stephanopoulus. “At 5:30 pm the entire cast of the popular YouTube series, ‘End of Take,’ were reported missing. Here to tell us more about this is Gio Benitez.”

The screen changed to Gio Benitez standing near a large TV with the faces of the cast of End of Take on them.

“Good morning, George,” said Gio. “Today marks the second day of a massive manhunt for seven teenagers; Jeremy Belpois, William Dunbar, Yumi Ishiyama, Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern, Aelita Stone, and Peter Parker. The teens are known for their YouTube series, ‘End of Take.’ Their disappearance just two days ago has left law enforcement baffled. This is because most of the teens left a note claiming that they had something to take care of. However, none of the notes go onto explain what they had to do or even hint of where they might have gone. Also, their parents have no idea what the teens are talking about. Furthermore, the police discovered the teens’ cell phones at their respective homes, which they originally thought was used to leave at relatively the same time, despite living miles away from each other. When the police checked their phones, they did not discover any text messages or calls that revealed any information regarding their whereabouts or what they might be doing. There wasn’t even any information regarding their departure.”

“What is also strange about this case is the fact that the police have not been able to gather any video surveillance from 3:00 am to 7:30 am, even though many of their residences have video surveillance. The police claim that data on the cameras were wiped from that time frame. This leads law enforcement to believe that the teens disappeared around 3:00 am to 7:30 am, however they do not know where they went or if anyone kidnapped them.”

“These two reasons have left even Tony Stark, Peter Parker’s mentor, baffled. Tony Stark gave a press conference yesterday, regarding the disappearance of the 15-year-old teen and his friends. In it, he claimed that the Avengers would be conducting their own investigation and hoped to find the seven teens as quickly as possible. When asked if he had reason to believe that Peter Parker had been kidnapped by one of the many Avengers’ enemies, he replied that the Avengers would be investigating the situation thoroughly and could not rule out anything at this time.”

“They weren’t caught on surveillance,” said Robin, surprised.

“Were the cameras hacked?” asked Michael.

“The police suspect that, but they haven’t confirmed that to be the case” Gio replied.

“Strange,” said George. “In other news. An authorized missile and drone strike were launched yesterday afternoon.”

“Why did XANA launch that attack? There weren’t any real targets” said Jeremy. He was in the basement of the Hermitage along with Aelita, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, William, and Peter. They had decided to stay there until they defeated XANA. The basement was rather large and fully furnished. It had two large bedrooms with their own attached bathrooms. There was a living area with an open kitchen that was fully stocked with food. Nonperishable food was abundant in the pantry that had been in the Hermitage for years. Probably put there when Aelita and Hopper still lived there. Peter, Ulrich, and Odd had managed to run into a Walmart to buy perishable foods like milk and cheese after they left New York City. There was also a small study, complete with a desk and two bookshelves full of books that took up most of the space in the study.

The Warriors were currently in the kitchen eating breakfast. Ulrich, Yumi, and William sat at the small kitchen table, while Aelita and Jeremy sat on the stools at the kitchen bar. Peter and Odd found a place on the couch to eat. Odd had cooked eggs, bacon, and toast for everyone.

“It is strange for XANA to waste resources like that,” said Ulrich. “Are we sure that XANA wasn’t really targeting anyone?”

“It was only rural and inhabited areas. The most the missiles would have done would be leaving a few giant craters in the ground and burn some forests only adding to the global warming crisis we’re already facing” said Yumi, absentmindedly shoving her food around on her plate.

“It had to have been something,” said William. “What is XANA really doing?”

“Maybe it’s trying to intimidate us” suggested Aelita.

“Why? It already showed us its power when Ulrich, Peter, and Odd were in New York” said William.

“Yeah. But you have to remember that this is all a game to XANA” said Aelita. “What better way to remind someone of the power they hold than showing it off. We all know that XANA could have made anything and anyone its target, but it didn’t.”

“So what XANA’s showing us that it’s more powerful than ever, but it’ll still honor its rules as long as we follow them?” asked Ulrich, bitterly.

“That’s what it looks like,” said Jeremy. “Defeating XANA will be more difficult than we thought.”

“No kidding,” said Peter. “XANA’s gotten rid of our immortality on the net. And now it has a new monster that is a pain in the ass to deal with.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that,” said Odd, with a mouth full of food. “I think we should call them scorpions.”

“Now isn’t really the time Odd,” said Jeremy.

“Scorpion? But it looks nothing like a scorpion” said Peter.

“Yeah. But its tail. Didn’t you say that its tail has a steel stinger on it” said Odd?

“Scorpion, it is then,” said Aelita, amused.

“Now that we’ve named the monster. Can we focus on XANA’s plan” said Jeremy, annoyed. “If XANA’s just flexing its power, then we need to figure out how XANA gained this power.”

“It may have something to do with the rise in missing person cases for individuals under the age of 19,” said Yumi.

“I thought that was a lead on the Green Phoenix and their activities,” said Ulrich, confused.

“Well, I’m not so sure now. I reviewed the footage from you and Peter’s little encounter with XANA and I recognized one of the people who attacked Peter on his way to Avenger’s Tower. Maria Ingram, she’s been missing for six months” said Yumi.

“So you think that the missing person’s cases we’ve been investigating will lead to XANA instead of the Green Phoenix,” said William.

“Yeah. I started trying to identify some of the people who attacked Ulrich and Peter, and I was able to determine that most of them have been missing for months. And nearly all of their cases have been closed by the police, because of a lack of evidence. But I need to access a few police servers to get the records of the victims” said Yumi.

“Weren’t you supposed to be resting?” said Ulrich.

“I was.” She was now very aware of the bandages she had wrapped around her under her clothes. Peter and Yumi had gotten the most injuries from yesterday’s mission. With their immortality gone, injuries received on Lyoko followed them back to the real world. Luckily for them, their injuries weren’t that serious. “I was slouching against the couch with a mug of hot chocolate as I looked through the files that Peter and Jeremy made” Yumi tried to argue. Her face gained a light blush, having been caught red-handed.

“And at what time was this. Because I’m sure pretty sure it wasn’t right after we got back from the mission” said Ulrich.

“Umm,” Yumi struggled for an answer.

“Looks like Yumi’s been caught red-handed” teased Odd.

“No I haven’t” she tried to deny. Although she was a bit embarrassed. “Anyway because it appears that we may have been wrong on who’s behind the increase in missing persons. I’m suggesting that we finally investigate the warehouse in Iowa. I know that we thought it may have been one of the places where Felix Price a.k.a. Jeffery Stevens was producing Chitari tech and then shipping it to buyers, but I’m not so sure about that now.”

“Why?” asked Odd. “Peter and I heard those weapons dealers talking about a Felix Price when we staked out a couple of arms deals months ago.”

“Yeah and Jeremy later found out that his real name is Jeffery Stevens. I even went to one of Price’s offices in Connecticut and his house to take files from his laptop and personal computer. We determined that there was a lot of unnecessary spending, mainly in warehouse houses and third parties,” said Ulrich.

“Not to mention that his personal computer had the locations of every warehouse he owned along with the names of his associates” added Peter.

“Yes. But there are things about Jeffery Stevens that haven’t always made sense. The man owned a toy company, why did he suddenly start selling Chitari tech? How did he even make it? Where did he get the supplies from? As far as we know he only has a master's in business not in engineering” said Yumi.

“That has always been strange,” said Jeremy, as he took a sip of his orange juice.

“However, that doesn’t mean that Felix Price is kidnapping children,” said William. “The guy kills his friend, Felix Price, for a reason we still don’t know and then takes over his insurance firm because it was conveniently offered to him in his will. And then uses said insurance firm as a cover for his illegal dealing of Chitari weapons. It screams backstabbing lying sadistic murder, but not child kidnapper.”

“Yeah. But Felix Price had a son, Henry Price, who disappeared a month before his father was killed. Which is another cold case by the way. Felix, he had a wife too who, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremy have seen multiple times right before kidnappings. It’s no coincidence that she’s there and her son’s not. Besides, we still don’t know why Jeffery killed Felix” argued Yumi.

“Are you suggesting that Felix found out about what Jeffery was really doing and Jeffery decided to get rid of him. That’s a long shot Yumi” said Ulrich.

“Yeah, but you’ve got to admit something’s not right about all of this,” said Yumi. “It feels like we’re missing something big.”

“Then we’ll look into it,” said Jeremy. “It’s not much of a lead, but it’s the best we’ve got. We’ll start investigating the warehouse in Kingston, Iowa, tonight.”

* * *

New York City 

12:40 pm

A seventeen-year-old brunett by the name of Harley Keener, found himself riding an elevator in one of the tallest and most high tech buildings in New York City. He held his luggage in his hands as the advanced elevator carried him up several floors.

It had been a while since he’d been there in the tower, just about six months. He could remember riding the elevator with Peter when they first met. Or more like crashing into each other on the elevator.

Tony was supposed to introduce the two to each other, but since when have things gone exactly to plan. In the end, he and Peter met awkwardly in an elevator.

_It was a hot day in July. Harley had been having a rather interesting day. Sam and Clint had decided to play a series of pranks on the teen, including putting Kool-Aid in the showerhead, freezing his cereal after he had finally managed to take a shower with regular non-Kool-Aid water, and just recently putting hot chili peppers in cookies and getting rid of all of the milk and dairy products in the refrigerator. This forced one Harley Keener with a mouth that felt like it was on fire to search for the closets dairy beverage of any kind._

_He was just headed to Tony’s lab, from Natasha’s floor where the ex-assassin gave him a glass of milk, to work on something with the eccentric inventor and escape the two pranksters. He was on the elevator. His mouth still stung a bit from the heat of the chili peppers, but it felt much better than it did a couple of minutes ago. He stepped out of the elevator, turning down the hall that led to the lab, not noticing two pranksters hiding down the hall._

_Suddenly Clint and Sam stepped out of their hiding places and began throwing food and god knows what at him. Clint had a slingshot and food as ammo and Sam had balloons that were filled with something that Harley had yet to find out._

_Harley ran back to the elevator with Clint and Sam hot on his heels, laughing all the way. Clint and Sam kept taking aim at the teen, fling balloons and food at his back. Most of which, was hitting him. Harley finally made it to the elevator._

_The doors flew open of their own accord. He ran in quickly, knocking over a confused Peter Parker in the process, leaving the elevator doors to close quickly behind him. He quickly told FRIDAY to take him to Tony’s floor, not at all paying attention to the boy underneath him._

_“What the hell? Who are you?” asked Peter, from underneath Harley. He was a bit uncomfortable with Harley sprawled on top of him._

_“Oh shit!” exclaimed Harley. He quickly scrambled off of Peter. He was a bit embarrassed to have been lying on someone in an elevator. “I’m sorry.”_

_“What happened to you?” asked Peter, as he picked himself off the ground._

_“I’m Harl…” he began but trailed off. He had finally gotten a good look at the teen in front of him and recognized him instantly. “Holy shit! You’re Peter Parker.”_

_“Yeah,” Peter drawled, as he stared at Harley confused. “Who are you? How do you have access to this elevator?” It was one of the private elevators that only a few mainly the Avengers, Pepper, Happy, and Peter had access to._

_“This is Harley Keener, one of Boss’s mentees along with yourself, Peter Parker” replied FRIDAY, saving Harley from embarrassing himself any further._

_“It’s really nice to meet you. I watch ‘End of Take’ all of the time,” said Harley, as he stuck out his hand._

_Peter took his hand and shook it, although a bit hesitantly. “Harley Keener. Tony did say he had someone for me to meet,” he said, absentmindedly. “So what happened to you?”_

_“Wha – Oh!” said Harley, remembering the state of his clothes. He looked down at his shirt taking in the splashes of pink and green on his once-white shirt. And was that mustard on it. “Clint and Sam are pulling pranks again. They’ve been at it all day.”_

_“Ah” said Peter, like it explained everything. Which it did. How else does one get that much strawberry jam and tabasco sauce on themselves? He looked down at his own blue shirt that was now a pink and green mess. “Looks like I picked a great time to show up then.”_

_“Oh no. Your shirt,” said Harley. “Can’t believe I fell on top of you.”_

_“It’s o-okay,” Peter reassured._

_Just then the elevator opened up, revealing a tired Steve Rogers. He took one look at the two and sighed._

_“They got you too, huh,” said Steve, as he got on the elevator._

_“Yeah” sighed Harley, in defeat. “What did they do to you?”_

_Steve simply removed the baseball cap he was wearing, revealing bright pink hair. “They replaced my conditioner with hair dye.”_

_“They put red Kool-Aid in my showerhead,” said Harley._

_“What about you Peter,” asked Steve?_

_“Oh no. J-Just…ummm….ran into Harley on the elevator,” said Peter._

_“Yeah. Sam and Clint ambushed me when I was going to the lab,” said Harley._

_“Guess I’ve stepped into a prank war,” said Peter._

_“A bit too one-sided to be a prank war,” said Steve._

_“Then we’ll have to change that,” said Peter, a bit mischievously._

_After Harley took another shower and changed clothes. Peter devised a plan to prank Sam and Clint with the help of Steve and Harley. The end result involved the entire common room being decorated with glitter, various colors of paint, confetti, and other substances that no one had the courage to identify. Sam and Clint lay defeated in the middle of the mess in varying stages of exhaustion after running from the trio. Harley with his prized potato gun that was now shooting glitter and confetti, Peter with his nearly clean clothes, and Steve Rogers with a victorious smile, stood in the middle of the common room three hours later as victors of the prank war._

_Harley and Peter were taking pictures of the two downed Avengers when the elevator dinged revealing one Tony Stark._

_“Hey, has anyone seen Peter? He was supposed to be here-“ he stopped when he took in the sight of the common room. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!!!”_

_“Oh, shit,” said Harley._

Harley remembered that day fondly, even though he, Peter, and Captain Fucking America got chewed out by Tony for wrecking the common room. He almost cracked a smile at the memory of Tony yelling at Steve for acting like a five-year-old and Steve actually looking a little ashamed. But he couldn’t bring himself to actually smile. Peter was gone and no one knew where he was. He thought that Peter was opening up, but clearly he was wrong. It seemed Peter still had a couple of more secrets.

Harley could remember how Peter used to act. He had always been a bit distant, although it wasn’t obvious. It took Harley months to realize that Peter was actually a pretty closed-off person. Peter always seemed to be in a good mood and could ramble forever on just about anything science-related. He especially loved to talk about Star Wars, his favorite movie franchise of all time. However, Peter hardly talked about himself, aside from Star Wars that was the only thing Harley knew he liked for a while.

At first, Harley thought that Peter was just shy and needed time to open up to new people. However, he soon realized that Peter seemed to act that way with everyone even his Aunt May. Harley thought that he would open up more once he figured out that Peter was Spider-Man. And he did a bit, but not by much. Harley had figured that was just the norm. Although a rather bad norm in his opinion, as it caused Peter not to reach out for help when he needed it. Despite the many attempts by the Avengers to get Peter to trust them more, it seemed that Peter didn’t.

Harley can still remember that day in October, a few days before Peter’s Homecoming when he had ended up at the Tower because he’d gotten in a fight at school and had almost gotten suspended. Which by the way was not his fault. Some asshole had thought it’d be a good idea to pick a fight with him because he was jealous that Harley knew Peter Parker and Tony Stark. He had recently appeared in a video with Tony Stark on Peter’s YouTube channel, “End of Take.” The principal had tried to suspend him, even though Harley hadn’t started the fight or thrown the first punch, and ended up injured from the fight. His mother had practically ripped the school to shreds, while Harley was in New York to relax.

_It was a Monday afternoon. Peter was a bit late coming to the Tower, which worried Tony. Harley was currently at the Tower playing Mario Kart with Sam and Clint. Tony was in the kitchen with a freshly made smoothie in one hand and his phone in the other. He was calling Peter to see what was keeping him. He knew that it might take the kid a bit longer to get to the tower than usual because Happy couldn’t pick Peter up like he usually did. But twenty minutes had passed._

_Finally, Peter answered the phone. Harley wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation, too caught up in beating Sam who was in first place, but he wished he had been paying attention. In the next two minutes, Tony suddenly ran out of the room with his suit quickly encasing him, headed to the balcony, startling the shit out of Harley, Sam, and Clint. Tony ignored all of their shouts of concern and flew off the balcony._

_Harley sat on the couch internally panicking, as Sam and Clint asked FRIDAY what was going on._

_“Peter is currently trying to stop an arms deal on a Ferry that he believes is being coordinated by the Vulture, an arm’s dealer who specializes in the illegal distribution of Chitari tech” replied FRIDAY. “Boss is currently on route to the ferry.”_

_“Shit! Kid’s in over his head” someone said. Harley couldn’t really tell who. He was too busy panicking. He knew Peter was Spider-Man and that he fought crime on a daily basis, but he didn’t know that Peter did things like this._

_‘Chitari tech? Wasn’t that a bit out of Peter’s expertise? Hadn’t Peter only been a hero for a year now. That wasn’t enough experience,’ Harley thought._

_Minutes trickled by as Harley anxiously waited for Peter and Tony to return. Wii controllers lay long forgotten on the couch. Harley didn’t pay any attention to Clint who was pacing in front of the TV or Sam who was trying to get Clint to calm down. His knee kept a steady pace as it bounced up and down as they continued to wait._

_After a while, Tony and Peter finally returned. Peter stood confidently on the balcony, his body whole and not littered with injuries like Harley thought it might be. He assumed that was because Tony managed to get Peter off the ferry before anything could happen._

_Clint was quick to round on Peter and reprimand him after he was done checking Peter for injuries._

_“What were you thinking?! You could have been killed! Just because you have powers, doesn’t mean you’re invincible, Peter!” Clint yelled._

_“I know that Clint,” said Peter, frustrated._

_“No! You don’t! Because if you did, you would have left the Vulture alone. But you were completely reckless and decided to take on an arms dealer that sells alien tech all by yourself,” said Clint._

_“What do you think I did before Tony found me?” Peter suddenly asked. “I was Spider-Man for almost a year before Tony found me. So what do you think I was doing then because I can assure you I wasn’t just helping old ladies cross the street and saving kittens. Besides, you guys are training me. I’m more than ready to take on an arms dealer.”_

_“No, you’re not” Clint snapped._

_“What you did in the past doesn’t matter. You were probably in over your head back then too,” said Tony._

_“I wasn’t! Stop treating me like a child! I helped save you from Hydra when you guys got captured this past summer. I’m more than capable of handling myself,” Peter argued._

_“And you shouldn’t have been doing that,” said Clint._

_“You are a child,” said Sam._

_“You’re 14-years-old!” Tony argued._

_“I’m fifteen. And I’m a super-powered crime-fighting hero. Not a child. Did you forget that I fought Doc Oc and Ross’ lackeys before,” Peter shot back. Harley had forgotten that Peter had taken on Doc Oc during the clusterfuck that was the Sokovia Accords._

_“You’re still in high school,” yelled Clint! “And you weren’t ready for those psychopaths either.”_

_“You keep saying that. Yet I was the one who defeated them” argued Peter._

_“This is where you zip it! The adults are talking” Tony snapped, angrily. “You’re a kid with barely a year’s worth of experience as a superhero. And I might not know what you’ve done in the past, but I know that you were not ready for it. Because what I just saw was reckless.”_

_“I wasn’t being reckless. I had everything under control” Peter argued._

_“Under control? Peter the ferry nearly split in half! You call that under control,” said Tony, completely ignoring Peter’s protests._

_“What was I supposed to do? Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about them, but you didn’t listen. None of this would have happened if you just listened to me,” yelled Peter!_

_“I did listen kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh,” asked Tony?_

_“You called the FBI,” Peter whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”_

_“You didn’t need to know. I told you to stay away from this and yet you hack a multimillion-dollar suit to go behind my back and do the one thing I told you not to do” said Tony, angrily._

_“You didn’t think the person investigating an arm’s dealer needed to know that you called the FBI?” Peter asked, rhetorically._

_“You’re not supposed to be investigating anything,” said Clint._

_“I’m Spider-Man. Investigating illegal activity in New York is my job,” Peter argued._

_“You are also a kid that is getting involved in something he is not ready for. What if someone died today? Different story right? Because that’s on you. And if you died I feel like that’s on me.”_

_“Why?” Peter whispered, not daring to meet Tony’s eyes._

_“What do you mean why?” asked Tony, confused._

_“W-Why would my death be on you?” came Peter’s confused voice. His brows were pinched and would clearly show his confusion if he would lift his head. “I’m…I’m Spider-Man. Yeah, you gave me a new suit and I’m grateful. But I’m Spider-Man. If I screw up that’s my ass.”_

_“What the hell kid!” exclaimed Sam._

_“What? You don’t even know how I got my powers. You don’t when I first started going out as Spider-Man. You don’t know all of the villains I’ve faced. So how could my death possibly be on you,” asked Peter?_

_“Because you’re my kid,” said Tony._

_Peter looked up at Tony, stunned. His brown eyes were wide with surprise._

_“You’re my kid,” said Tony, as he grasped Peter’s shoulders. “And I care about you.”_

_Peter looked at Tony in awe. His eyes betrayed a bit of vulnerability that Harley had just managed to catch a glimpse of. But it was quickly hidden away and was replaced by what, now Harley recognized as a façade._

_“No, you don’t,” said Peter, as he stepped away from Tony. “You don’t care about me, Peter Parker. You care about Spider-Man. Just Spider-Man.”_

_“Of course I care about you kid,” said Tony, trying to hide the hurt he felt at Peter’s words._

_“Yeah right. We never would have met if I wasn’t Spider-Man. It’s the only reason you bothered to track down some kid from Queens” said Peter, defensively._

_“Peter stop,” said Harley, shaken by Peter’s response. He idly noticed everyone turn their heads to look at him as if they forgot he was in the room. “Stop doing that. Stop pushing everyone away.”_

_“Harley what are you talking about,” asked Peter. His tone clearly showing how annoyed he was._

_“You know at first I thought you were a guarded person. But you don’t trust anyone at all do you” asked Harley?_

_“Harley” warned Clint, but it fell on deaf ears._

_“That’s not true. I trust people” said Peter, defensively._

_“Like you trust Odd. I thought he was your brother. Yet he had to call me, MJ, and Ned to check up on you because he thinks you’re spiraling. I live in Tennessee, Peter. I’m only here, because of my asshole principal” said Harley. Distantly he thought he heard, ‘language,’ but it went completely ignored. “What’s that about? You live less than 10 minutes away from each other. You two always talk to each other. Hell, sometimes I feel like you two are inseparable. But clearly I’m wrong. So why don’t you tell us what’s really going on? Because you didn’t just stop an arm’s deal because you heard about it. You’re not pushing everyone away just because you’re in trouble and want to be an ass. What happened?”_

_Everyone turned their heads toward Peter, waiting for a response._

_“I’m fine. Despite what Odd and possibly Ned told you, I’m fine. Just thought I’d do my job and stop an arms deal” said Peter, trying to dismiss Harley’s worry._

_“Which you apparently did rather recklessly,” said Harley. “You’re slipping aren’t you?”_

_“I’m not,” Peter said. His expression, clearly annoyed. “If we’re done here, I’ve got things to do.”_

_“Oh, no,” Tony, quickly stopped any of Peter’s attempts to escape. “Were not finished yet. Because what you’ve been saying is complete bullshit. You’re not alright are you kid?”_

_“How many times do I have to say it? I’m fine” said Peter, getting frustrated._

_“Peter!” called Clint. “Do you hear yourself? A ferry almost got split in half. Your brother has to call Harley to check on you. Do you realize how bad this is?”_

_“The ferry didn’t get split in half” sassed Peter. “And Odd’s worried over nothing. I’m perfectly fine. Nothing’s wrong.”_

_“Something is wrong, kid,” said Sam. “And I think you know too. The fact that you keep denying it only makes it more obvious.”_

_“What do you want me to say? You want me to say that something’s wrong, and tell you some sob story. Because I don’t have one for you. I’m fine” Peter spat, angrily._

_“The ferry would think otherwise,” Tony, retorted._

_“The ferry is fine. It didn’t get split in half. No one died,” Peter snapped._

_“It almost wasn’t fine,” said Harley._

_“Stay out of this Harley. You don’t know anything” said Peter._

_“Clearly not, when you won’t tell anyone anything,” said Harley._

_“Because there’s nothing to tell. You’re searching for something that’s not there” said Peter._

_“No, you’re just hiding what’s really bothering you,” said Clint._

_“ENOUGH!” yelled Sam, growing frustrated at the arguing. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”_

_“Great so I can go,” said Peter, prepared to jump off the building._

_“No, stay,” said Sam. “You’re still in trouble. But we need to know what’s going on with you kid. We know something’s up, so stop denying it. We just want to help you.”_

_“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong. So stop asking” said Peter. “I need to go back home. May’s probably worried about me.”_

_Tony sighed and said, “Fine. You can leave. But I’m going to need the suit back.”_

_“What?”_

_“Peter I can’t just let you go swinging around the city on a web with a multimillion-dollar suit that you hacked by the way after what’s happened today. And what’s still probably happening” said Tony._

_“But” Peter started but stopped himself. “Fine. But I need clothes.”_

_“I can get you that,” said Tony._

_It was one of the first times Harley had seen Peter like that and it wasn’t the last. After Peter had given Tony back the suit, he left the Tower and went home. Harley, much like almost everyone else Peter knew, didn’t see Peter again until Friday. He skipped lab days and avoided everyone._

_Harley had tried to go see Peter on several occasions. He waited for him outside of Midtown tech to talk to him once school let out, but he only saw MJ and Ned. They told him they hadn’t seen Peter at the end of the day. But Harley had gotten to the school twenty minutes before it let out._

_‘He must have gone out through a back entrance’ thought Harley._

_He waited at his and May’s apartment one day. He spent nearly all afternoon there, but Peter didn’t show up until two hours after Harley had left._

_Saturday soon came and Harley had yet to hear from Peter. He was still ignoring all of Harley’s texts and calls. He even ignored all of Tony and Happy’s calls and text. Hell Tony tried to track Peter down one day, but couldn’t. Tony was beyond worried that day and even called Peter’s aunt, only to be told that he had just arrived back at the apartment and had promptly fallen asleep as soon as he got there. This only eased Tony’s worries slightly._

_Saturday as it turned out was the night of Peter’s Homecoming dance. The day passed quietly. Harley had tried again to contact Peter, and this time he was surprisingly successful. He only managed to receive a text from his friend, but it was more than he had received that whole week. The text wasn’t much, but it was an apology for ignoring, avoiding, worrying, and snapping at Harley on Monday. It also said that Peter would be going to Homecoming that night and that Peter would talk to him tomorrow._

_With that Harley’s worries eased a bit. Peter was talking now and that was progress. But maybe Harley should have worried more. Maybe Harley should have pushed more because all hell seemed to break loose that night._

_It was at 9:37 pm when Tony received a call from Happy saying that the plane that had been moving a few items down to the Avengers Compound had crashed on Colney Island. That didn’t worry Tony too much, but what Happy said next sure as hell did. He told Tony the Vulture had tried to rob the plane, but Peter had been there and taken him down along with the plane._

_Tony freaked out. He had been in the lab with Harley working on some projects, but he immediately stopped at hearing that Peter Parker was involved in a plane crash. The billionaire immediately started asking where Peter was and if he was alright in a panic. He panicked, even more, when he found out that Happy couldn’t find Peter and that despite Happy calling him several times, Peter refused to answer his phone._

_Tony tried to track Peter’s phone but found that he was unable to._

_‘Most likely because, Peter had not turned off the features that made his phone untraceable, from when he went to DC,’ Harley knew now. But at the time he was falling into a panic. He had finally heard from Peter earlier that day and he seemed fine. He was going to school to dance like a normal teenager. But obviously things couldn’t be normal for long._

_Tony gathered all of the Avengers currently in the Tower, which included Natasha, Clint, Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Vision, and explained the situation. They immediately started searching for Peter. Harley wanted to go out as well, but Tony had managed to convince Harley to stay in the tower. In the end, the Avengers, returned back empty-handed. But they agreed on renewing their search for Peter in the morning. They had decided on not calling Peter’s aunt, as to keep Peter’s identity a secret for a bit longer. But eventually, they would have to tell her if Peter stayed missing longer._

_It wasn’t until Sunday that anyone was able to get in contact with Peter again. He had finally answered the phone when Tony called him._

_“Peter,” said Tony, hoping that it was Peter on the other end of the line and not some serial kidnapper or something._

_“Ay Mista… Star” came the tired and a bit slurred, but very real voice of Peter Parker._

_Tony released a sigh of relief at hearing Peter’s voice. As did the other Avengers in the room plus Harley when they heard Peter. Tony had put the phone on speaker as soon as he realized someone had actually answered it this time. Steve, Clint, Sam, and Natasha were currently in the room. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you since last night?”_

_“Why were you – Oh” came Peter’s tired voice. It sounded like they had just woke Peter up from a nap, not that anyone cared at the moment._

_“Yeah oh, kid,” said Clint. “Where are you?”_

_“He’s at home,” said a different voice. This one belonging to Ulrich._

_“Ulrich,” asked Tony, confused. “What are you doing in New York kid? Thought you were supposed to be in Connecticut.”_

_“Odd’s here too. Thought I’d come to check on Peter because he was being an idiot” said Ulrich. “I got here Friday night after I managed to convince my parents to let me come to New York for a few days,” he said. Although Harley would later find out that Ulrich, had actually snuck out of the house to help Peter, leading to him being grounded for months._

_“You’ve been here since yesterday,” said Harley. “Why didn’t you say anything?”_

_“Because I needed to track down this idiot. I heard he’s been avoiding everyone” said Ulrich._

_“Yeah, Ulrich’s the best at tracking Peter down” came Odd’s voice._

_“You’re on speakerphone, by the way,” said Ulrich._

_“Wait. Has this happened before” asked Sam?_

_“A few times in the past,” said Ulrich. “Peter can be incredibly stubborn and likes to deal with his own problems by himself instead of asking for help. It usually involves him running off somewhere on his own, avoiding everyone, and then confronting the problem on his own.”_

_“Hmm” agreed Odd. “It can be really hard to find him too. Because when Peter doesn’t want to be found. He’ll do everything he can to not be found. Ulrich’s actually the only person who’s ever found him when he runs off.”_

_“Anyway,” Ulrich drawled, as Odd’s explanation had been a bit too informative for him. “Peter went to Odd’s place last night and crashed for a few hours and then he went back to May’s. Odd and I decided to stay with him. He’s been sleeping since we got here at 11 last night.”_

_“It’s noon,” said Natasha. Her voice carried the slightest bit of concern._

_“Yeah. In addition to avoiding everyone. He hadn’t been sleeping for the past week. Finally managed to get him to go to sleep on Thursday after I tracked him down” said Ulrich._

_“Is that why he sounds so tired?” asked Sam._

_“That and the fact that he’s healing from injuries he received last night, which always makes him tired,” said Ulrich._

_“Injuries,” asked Steve?_

_“Yeah. It’s why he went to Odd’s last night. Odd and I were playing video games when Peter came crawling in through Odd’s window. We patched him up” said Ulrich._

_“You patched him up? Why didn’t you – Never mind I’m sending Happy to come to pick all three of you up. We’ll take him to the med bay to get an actual Doctor to look at him and you can explain everything when you get here” said Tony, frustrated._

_The call ended and Harley found himself, waiting on for Peter to show up again. But this time in the med bay. He had only been waiting twenty or so minutes, which was enough time for Vision and Wanda to return to the tower when he heard the sound of footsteps. He looked down the hallway, seeing two teens and a worried Happy Hogen that was supporting a tired Peter Parker._

_Harley couldn’t see much of Peter’s injuries, but he did notice the band-aids on his face. He also noticed Peter’s bandaged fingers that barely poked out of the long sleeves of his hoodie. He noticed how Happy supported most of Peter’s weight. Although at first glance it may look like Happy was supporting Peter because of how tired the teen was, but Harley thought differently. He had a feeling that one of Peter’s legs was injured._

_Happy somehow managed to get Peter on to one of the cots in the med bay, despite the teen’s tired protests. Dr. Helen Cho was already in the room and quickly started examining Peter. Harley learned so much about Peter, during the next few hours, as did the rest of the Avengers. Although most of them didn’t get to see the extent of Peter’s injuries, as Cho only allowed Tony and Steve to stay in the room, while she treated Peter’s injuries. After Cho treated Peter for his injuries, she sent him off telling him that all he needed was some food and rest._

_The Avengers alongside, Happy, Harley, Ulrich, and Odd headed back up to the common room with Peter in tow, who Steve carried, despite Peter’s protests. Steve quickly deposited Peter on the couch when they reached the common room, Odd and Ulrich sitting on either side of him. Steve left the room to warm up some leftovers from lunch for Peter to eat. Once Steve came back with a large plate of food for Peter, the Avengers pounced and started interrogating the teens._

_“Peter care to explain all of the injuries you’ve been hiding?” asked Tony._

_“What injuries,” asked Natasha?_

_“Peter here has several scars on him. Some old, some new. And that’s in addition to the 1 st and 2nd-degree burns and lacerations on his arms and back; puncture wounds on his chest and back; and bruises on his ribs, back, legs and arms” said Tony._

_“Puncture wounds?” asked Wanda, voice filled with concern. “How did you get puncture wounds?”_

_“The Vulture had talons,” said Peter. “It’s how he picked up crates and stuff. He may have picked me up and slammed me into the ground a couple of times.”_

_“That must be where the bruises on your back came from too,” said Steve, absentmindedly._

_“No” Peter denied. “That was from the building.”_

_“What building,” asked Tony, confused?_

_“Wait. You don’t know” said Peter. “I thought Happy told you what happened.”_

_“Yeah, I did kid,” said Happy. “You crashed a plane on Coney Island, fought the Vulture, and webbed him to a crate.”_

_“Oh you don’t know,” said Peter, quietly._

_“Know what Peter,” asked Steve?_

_“Umm…well” Peter stuttered out. He was being to feel uncomfortable. His head dropped to stare at his hands. He dropped his fork back in his plate and wrung his hands together, despite the action irritating the burns on them. Odd grabbed one of his hands and squeezed._

_“You’re not back there,” Odd said, quietly. Peter nodded and continued, although a bit quietly. “He…umm…dropped a building on me.”_

_“HE DROPPED A WHAT?” screamed Clint! Peter cringed at the sound._

_“A building? When did he do this” asked Happy, alarmed?_

_“Kid” Sam breathed._

_“This is concerning,” said Vision._

_“What the hell Peter,” asked Harley?_

_“It was before I crashed the plane. I tracked the vulture down to a warehouse. He was all alone in the warehouse, completely defenseless. I thought I had him, but it….it was a trap. He remotely brought out his wings. I thought they were trying to attack me at first….but they weren’t. Th-They were….destroying the s-support columns….in the warehouse. I noticed too late and the building….the building fell on me” Peter finished, rather breathlessly. His hand was gripping Odd’s tightly now. But the blonde didn’t waver, despite the death grip on his hand._

_“Son of a bitch” muttered Clint._

_“Peter, how did you get out,” asked Tony. His head was in his hands and it shook from side to side._

_“I lifted the building,” said Peter, as he finally lifted his head._

_“You…lifted the building,” said Tony, not processing. He looked up at Peter as if he was joking. But Peter’s expression did not waver._

_“I lifted the building” Peter repeated._

_“You lifted a 100-ton building,” said Harley, surprised. He had always known that Peter was strong, but he didn’t know he was this strong._

_“Yeah,” said Peter, sheepishly._

_“Holy shit,” said Sam. “How strong are you kid?”_

_“I mean Peter did manage to crash a plane from the outside, by tilting its flaps,” said Ulrich, casually._

_“You crashed the plane from the outside” came Clint’s, surprised shout._

_Natasha arched an eyebrow at that._

_“You were riding on the outside of the plane,” said Tony, looking like he might have an aneurism._

_“Yeah. We were kind of fighting outside the plane” said Peter, not looking anyone in the eye. He let go of Odd’s hand and resumed eating, finding the food very interesting and delicious._

_“Outside the plane! Like in the air” said Clint. “You can’t fly! How did you manage to stay on the plane?”_

_“I’m sticky,” said Peter, sheepishly, holding his bandaged hands up._

_Ulrich and Odd snickered at the Avenger’s stunned and horrified faces, which caused Peter’s face to burn with embarrassment. Although he quickly sobered up._

_“Listen, I’m sorry about everything. I shouldn’t have gone after the Vulture on my own and I shouldn’t have pushed everyone away. You were just trying to help and I was being a total dick,” Peter apologized. “I’m especially sorry about worrying you guys so much.”_

_“No, kid you were right,” said Tony, causing Peter to look at him. “I shouldn’t have taken the suit and I should have told you about the FBI.”_

_“But Mr. Stark-“ Peter tried to stop him._

_“Nope, none of that. You’re not the only one that messed up” said Tony._

_“Yeah. I guess we could have trusted you more,” said Clint._

_“Yeah, kid,” said Sam. “I’m sorry too. We were just trying to look out for you. But you are more than capable of handling somethings on your own. But just remember, we’re always going to be there for you. So if you ever need help, don’t be afraid to ask.”_

_“Sam’s right. We’ve got your back kid” said Steve._

_Natasha merrily nodded._

_“So what was really going on with you,” Harley asked, slowly?_

_Peter sighed tiredly._

_“You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. I don’t want to pry if you’re feeling uncomfortable. You know what you probably are uncomfortable and I’m making it worse by asking. So don’t answer…” Harley rambled._

_“Harley,” said Peter._

_“Yeah,” replied Harley._

_“Now, you’re the one rambling,” said Peter, smiling at Harley. “After everything, that’s happened, you guys deserve an explanation. My uncle died on October 15, 2015. We had just gone out to pick up some Chinese food. We were waiting for our food when a man walked in. I wasn’t paying attention. I was telling Ben about some new video ideas, but Ben was paying attention. He noticed the gun in the man’s hands. He was about to rob the restaurant so Ben tackled him to the ground. But not before the man could draw his gun and shoot him in the chest.”_

_Peter’s voice broke. And his tears that he had been trying to keep at bay, feel down his cheeks. Odd’s hand was back in his and Ulrich rubbed Peter’s back._

_“The man was so terrified he ran off and was I left with my uncle, who quickly bled out, despite the pressure I held on the wound. I can’t stop seeing the blood. And I can’t sleep, so I tried to distract myself from it by tracking down the Vulture,” Peter managed to choke out._

_“Aww, kid,” said Clint._

_“Peter,” said Wanda, sadly._

_“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Tony._

_“I-I thought I could handle it. D-D-Didn’t want to bother you” Peter stammered out._

_“You’re never a bother to us,” said Natasha._

_“We all care about you, Peter,” said Sam._

_“You don’t have to deal with this alone,” said Harley._

_“Peter, you can come to me about anything. There’s no need for you to hold everything in. You can rely on us too,” said Tony._

_“Thanks, guys,” said Peter, a small smile on his face._

_Peter soon went to sleep afterward. His head lying in Ulrich’s lap. Tony called Peter’s aunt at some point, telling her Peter was at the Tower. Odd was talking animatedly with Clint, Sam, and Steve about something. Harley wasn’t really paying attention. He was too busy talking to Ulrich and Natasha. Despite almost a week of worry, the day had turned out alright. Everyone was safe._

But that wasn’t the case, today. Peter and his friends had disappeared and no one knew where they went. Harley couldn’t believe what Tony was telling him when he called, yesterday. But the several phone calls he had received from his and Peter’s friends (that hadn’t disappeared) and seeing Peter’s face on every news outlet made the situation all the more real to him. It wasn’t long after that Harley found himself on a plane flying to New York.

_The elevator dinged, startling Harley out of his thoughts. He stepped through the doors, with luggage in toe, and stumbled upon a haggard-looking Tony Stark. Tony was wearing some old t-shirt with a pair of jeans that should have been thrown out a long time ago. His eyes had dark bags under them, indicating the man’s lack of sleep._

But Harley wasn’t about to comment on his appearance. He couldn’t even remember what he had decided to put on this morning before he got on the plane. Not that it mattered. They needed to find Peter.

“Hey, Tony.” Tony startled at the voice. He whipped his head around to see a gloomy Harley Keener.

Tony got up from his seat, ignoring the ache of his legs from sitting so long, and quickly drew the boy into a hug. Harley clutched onto the man.

“Harley,” said Tony. Harley took a step back, breaking the hug.

“Is he really…Why would he?” Harley tried to ask, but couldn’t manage to get the words out.

“Yeah. I don’t know why he left. We’re still trying to figure that out. But it’s good to see you kid” said Tony.

“Harley.” Clint stood in the entrance to the kitchen staring at the two.

“Clint,” said Harley.

“Hey, kid. When did you get here?” Clint walked up to the two and hugged Harley. “I just got here.”

“Did you found out anything?” asked Tony.

“Have you been up here the whole time? When I left you were working on your Stark pad and you had barely eaten breakfast” Clint countered.

“It hasn’t been that long. I was just trying to figure out where Peter ran off to like you should be doing” said Tony.

“I have been doing that Tony. We’re all worried about him. But you need to eat and take a break,” Clint argued.

“I can do that once I find Peter,” said Tony.

“No. You are eating now. You’re not helping anyone by refusing to eat and working yourself half to death” said Clint.

“My kid is out there, somewhere! Involved in some dangerous ass shit that he hid from us, by the way! Despite the thousands of times, we told him to ask us for help! He goes behind all of our backs, including his friends, and tries to take on some threat that we don’t even know about!”

“Tony! Calm down. Arguing isn’t going to help find Peter. And working on an empty stomach doesn’t help anyone” said Harley. “Eat something. And not just a candy bar. A real meal.”

“Fine!” Tony cried exasperatedly. He opened the fridge and tried to find something to eat. His eyes eventually landed on some leftover spaghetti. He pulled it out of the fridge and heated it up.

* * *

Ned’s Apartment

2:30 pm

“I can’t believe this is happening,” said Ned. He was sitting in the living room of his apartment with MJ. The TV played some movie that both of them had lost interest in a long time ago.

The apartment was empty, except for the two, as Ned’s mother was at work. During the two days, the two, along with their class, especially the decathlon team, had been questioned by the police and the Avengers. The decathlon group chat relentlessly buzzed with people talking about Peter’s sudden disappearance, leading MJ and Ned to mute the chat, just to escape the mountain of questions everyone had. Peter and the other’s social media accounts weren’t much better either. Some fans sent out well wishes, while others demanded answers.

It seemed like that’s what everyone wanted. Answers. Because all they had been left with were questions. Endless questions. People thought that Ned and MJ might have some answers, as they were two of Peter’s closest friends. But they were just as out of the loop as everyone else. It was only after the Avengers finished interrogating them that they saw the letter from Peter, revealing that he was Spider-Man.

And wasn’t that a surprise. Even to MJ. She always knew something was strange about Peter Parker, and she had barely acknowledged the thought that Peter could be Spider-Man. But to have conformation that Peter Parker was the famous wall-crawler was unbelievable. It made them wonder what else Peter was hiding.

“You seriously didn’t know that Peter was Spider-Man,” asked MJ from her spot on the couch next to Ned.

“No” was Ned’s short reply.

“Really. I thought he told you everything.”

“Well, he didn’t tell me about this or anything” snapped Ned. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay”

“I’m just worried about Peter. He’s never done anything like this before. But he’s Spider-Man apparently, so it’s not like I would know”

“He had his reasons for not telling us. Remember what he said in the letter” argued MJ.

_Ned, you have become one of my closest friends. When we first met I was afraid that maybe you were afraid of me. But you later told me that you were too nervous to talk to me. I was nervous too. I had recently moved to New York and I was yet again at a new school. And although I lost my temper on occasion, you’ve always stood by my side. And you’ve supported me, despite the number of secrets I’ve kept from you. So I guess it’s only right I finally let you in on one of my secrets. I am Spider-Man. Sorry, I never told you. And I’m sorry that I’m still keeping things from you. I know that you worry about me, and the fact that I’m leaving only worries you more. But I’ll be alright. And I’ll see you when I get back._

“Yeah. I’m still mad at him though” said Ned. “Peter gets into so much trouble because people hate him for stupid reasons and he always seems to just be a magnet for trouble. But he always acts like everything’s fine. Like he can take on the world without a problem. But now I find out he’s Spider-Man and he’s disappeared to go on some mission with Ulrich and the others.”

“I guess Peter’s better at keeping a secret than we thought. No one saw this coming” said MJ. “Not even me,” she whispered to herself.

“I know Mr. Stark already asked you this, but did you notice anything. You’ve always been the observant one” said Ned.

“And what good it’s done us,” said MJ, irritated. “I didn’t notice anything outside of Peter being Spider-Man and I wasn’t even confident about that. I thought maybe Sissi might know something, but it seems like she doesn’t.”

“Yeah. It looks like they were even more secretive then than they are now. Like how many secret lives does Peter actually have? He’s Peter, Spider-Man, and whatever he was before high school” said Ned.

“Secret lives?” MJ whispered to herself. “Peter did a lot of strange things. Was everything that he did Spider-Man related?”

“I don’t know MJ. He was really weird freshman year, but Mr. Stark said that was probably because he had just gotten his powers.”

“There has to be something else,” said MJ. She was racking her brain for anything out of the ordinary for Peter. He was always so nervous and anxious. And then he was a superhero too. There were a lot of strange things about Peter. But how would she know if it was because of Spider-Man or Peter’s past?

“Remember that story that Peter was writing about a princess. He said it was for a sketch for the YouTube channel” MJ said suddenly.

“Yeah,” said Ned, a bit confused as to why MJ was bringing that up.

“They never used it. But Peter was always working on it. And when we went over to Odd’s dorm, he was working on the same thing.”

“That was strange. But why does that matter?”

“Maybe it wasn’t for a sketch. Think about it, Peter’s not really the one to write stories or sketches. That was always Odd and Aelita's thing. Peter and Ulrich were the people Odd bounced ideas off of. So why would Peter be writing a sketch.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“If Peter wasn’t writing a sketch, what was he doing? And why didn’t he ever let us see it? Now that I think about the one Odd was writing was a bit different,” MJ trailed off.

“What are you thinking?”

“I think Peter was writing in code.”

“Are you sure? We know Peter’s secretive, but would he really just leave coded messages out in the open?”

“Wouldn’t he? And it wasn’t that much in the open. Peter’s surrounded by superheroes, two of which are spies and the other is Tony Stark. It would be extremely difficult to hide stuff from them. But not if you used code and disguised what something really was. Peter wrote a story about a princess in a black generic composition book. And if he was smart, and he is, he would have hidden it within a notebook that had class notes, so if anyone stumbled across it-“

“It would look like a normal composition book”

“We need to go to May’s.”

* * *

Kingston, Iowa

9:50 pm

“We’re here Jeremy,” said Yumi. Aelita and Peter were alongside her, while William, Ulrich, and Odd were in a replika of the forest sector. They were standing outside of a warehouse, hidden in the shadows.

“Okay. Remember you’re only there to do recon. Be careful and try not to get caught,” said Jeremy.

“We’ll do our best,” said Aelita.

“Let’s go,” said Peter.

The three ran towards the building, making sure to stay hidden. They entered the warehouse and took a look around. There were several boxes labeled The Hills. A few of the boxes were open allowing Aelita to look inside them.

“It’s just cleaning supplies,” she said. She pulled out a bottle and read the label to herself.

‘To make your bathroom smell lemony fresh.’

“Hey guys found a ladder leading below,” said Yumi.

The two hurried to her and made their way down the ladder. They found themselves in a long corridor.

“Aelita and I will take that end,” said Yumi, pointing towards the right. “You take that the other one.” Peter nodded and ran down the hall, with Yumi and Aelita headed in the opposite direction.

It wasn’t long before Peter came to a fork in the hall. He quickly decided to turn left and stumbled upon multiple rooms with various medical equipment inside. In one room there was a man, sitting at a desk looking at data on a monitor. Surrounding him were various pieces of equipment that Peter recognized as polymerase chain reaction equipment. Peter tried to find out what the man was looking at, but he turned around causing Peter to duck below the window of the door.

Peter turned around and quietly ran back down the hall. He ran and ran until he saw more doors and heard more heartbeats. But he faltered when his nose began to pick up the stench of the hallway. He put a hand over his nose as he cautiously walked down the hall. He came upon a steel door that a small rectangular opening at the top. The opening had iron bars on it, but Peter was still able to make out five children in the room when he looked through the opening. Peter, immediately, threw the door open. There were two boys and three girls. Three of the children seemed to be withering on the ground. While the other two were trying to protect them.

“Jeremy, we’ve got a problem.”

Meanwhile, Aelita and Yumi were exploring their end of the corridor. They had found a large room filled with mats. They also found a large communal bathroom. They continued checking the underground building. Eventually, they came upon a room with several scanners in it.

“Just like the factory,” said Yumi,

“What do you mean?”

“Jeremy there’s twenty virtual scanners in this room, said Aelita.

“What,” asked Jeremy, surprised. “You need to try to find the supercomputer.”

“Okay,” said Yumi.  
“Do you think this is some training facility,” asked Aelita?

“It’s starting to look like it,” said Yumi.

“Peter have you-“ Peter’s swear cut her off. “There are children here. And I think they’re being experimented on.”

“What?”

“Well Aelita and I found a training room and scanners.”

“What the hell’s going on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery begins. What has XANA been up to?


End file.
